


Harry Potter and the Vampire Council

by Gemfae



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bonding, Bottom Harry, Consensual Underage Sex, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Live! Sirius, Loony Luna, M/M, Manipulative Dumbledore, Mates, Slash, Some Weasley Bashing, Top Draco, Vampire Draco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-03-22 08:32:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3722167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemfae/pseuds/Gemfae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changed summary!<br/>What happens when Draco Malfoy, Veela, is turned into a vampire by Musette, one of Belle Morte's favourite followers, only to discover Harry Potter is his mate? How will Harry react when he is cured of his horcrux by being marked as Draco's human servant?  Throw in some Greek gods and a not -actually -dead -godfather and Harry has had more than enough excitement for a year, but that's not the end of it. There's still a Dark Lord to kill, a manipulative headmaster and a power hungry, centuries old master vampire to avoid, and when Harry develops a new power there is only one person who can help him learn to control it. Harry and Draco flee the country with their loved ones and seek sanctuary with one of the youngest master of the cities. Surely trouble won't be able to find Harry in the US, and he'll be able to focus exclusively on his new relationship... right? If only it were that easy...</p><p>Not my best summary, but please read!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Musette

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The character’s from Harry Potter are not mine, nor are those from the Anita Blake series; all characters belong to their respective author’s and I am making no money from this story. Enjoy!

Draco groaned as he came to consciousness; what the hell happened? He felt as if he had been trampled by a crumple-horned snorack. Draco groaned again at the thought; he had been spending too much time with Lovegood. Keeping his eyes closed in the hopes that the pounding in his head would abate he tried to piece together what happened.

When Lucius had been arrested at the end of fifth year Draco had been furious at Potter, certain it was the other boys fault; his mother quickly disabused him of that notion. Narcissa informed her son that Lucius was under the power of the Dark Lord, and that said Dark Lord had gone mad, causing his followers to lose their grip on sanity. After many days of arguments Narcissa had convinced Draco that Lucius’ path was not the right one and there were better ways to protect the Wizarding World from Muggles than simply killing them.

Once the decision was made, Draco contacted his godfather, Severus Snape, and the three of them sought an audience with Albus Dumbledore. The headmaster willingly granted Draco and Narcissa sanctuary and, at Narcissa’s insistence, allowed them to participate in Order meetings. Harry Potter had also been at the meetings, but Granger and the Weasel were excluded. A grudging truce was made between Draco and the three Gryffindors, but there was still an underlying rivalry, and Draco and the Weasel had explosive confrontations at least once a week.

When sixth year began Draco joined Potter in private lessons with Dumbledore and together they learned about the origins of Voldemort-when his father discovered he had been groveling to a lowly half-blood Lucius would be incensed!-and discovered that the mad wizard had created six horcruxes. With Narcissa’s help they located a horcrux in the Lestrange vault and destroyed it, and then they had begun searching out more of the cursed objects, but they had had no luck until recently.

Three days into the Christmas Holidays he and Potter had discovered a spell to locate horcruxes; Dumbledore was not at the school and both Severus and Narcissa had forbidden the two boys to go horcrux hunting alone, so Potter-with an odd mixture of Gryffindor bravery and Slytherin cunning-enlisted Granger and the Weasel to accompany them; after all, if they took some classmates with them they weren’t technically alone. A couple days after they performed the spell the four of them had gone into Hogsmeade, summoned the Knight bus into London and then took a Muggle taxi to a smaller town Draco could not recall the name of. Eventually the horcrux had been located and destroyed, but the large amount of magic it required alerted the nearby Death Eaters; Ron and Hermione had left to report back to the order, while Draco had been volunteered to help Harry distract the Death Eater’s.

He and Potter apparated several times-both had been secretly taught by Dumbledore, who had also given them amulets to prevent the ministry from following their trail- but the Death Eaters were always right behind them, so Draco had used his emergency port key to take them outside the Malfoy residence in France; they couldn’t port key directly in because Potter wasn’t keyed into the wards. The two arch rivals-just because they were on the same side now didn’t mean Draco liked Potter any more than he had before-made their way quietly through the woods and were on the edge of the Malfoy property when…they had been attacked. It wasn’t Death Eaters, Draco was fairly certain of this, but their attackers had moved so fast he didn’t get a good look at any of them. Draco vaguely recalled being woken up before and having some liquid forced down his throat, but the memories were blurry and could have simply been part of a dream.

Unable to remember anymore Draco was faced with a difficult decision-open his eyes to see what the situation was, or pretend to still be unconscious and hope that Potter managed to pull off another impossible rescue. Stupid heroic Gryffindor. Of course, Potter might not even be alive.

“ _Finally awake_?” It took Draco a moment to understand the words, for they were spoken in French, “ _I had begun to think you would not wake up. You cannot pretend to sleep any longer; look at me.”_

Very reluctantly Draco opened his eyes and immediately focused on the being-for she was obviously not human-talking to him. She appeared young, with golden hair, dark brows and lashes and bright blue eyes. Her skin was pale-paler even than his-and seemed to glow in the faint moonlight. Her dark red lips parted in a smile and Draco saw the tips of fangs; she was a vampire.

 _“Who are you and what do you want from me?”_ Draco demanded as he sat up, speaking French as well; surprisingly he was not bound in anyway; _“And what did you do with Potter?”_

 _“I am Musette,”_ the vampire replied _, “and you and I are going to have great fun together-or at least it shall be fun for me. As for your friend…he has a part to play, but not until later. My mistress has aligned herself with the Dark Lord; I have been chosen to administer punishments to those that challenge him. Give me your name.”_

 _“I take orders from no one,”_ Draco sneered, drawing up all of his courage and hiding behind his familiar Slytherin mask, _“My family is very powerful, and Potter has friends in the ministry; you will pay for attacking us.”_

 _“I think not,”_ Musette laughed, _“No one knows that I have you. If you will not give me your name then we may as well get started.”_

Draco had no chance to react before he was grabbed with super human strength and chained to the floor. Musette ripped open his shirt and gave him a cold, cruel smile as she held up a silver blade. _“You will soon tell me everything I want to know.”_ Draco closed his eyes as he saw the knife descend, biting his lips so that he wouldn’t scream at the pain as Musette plunged the blade in his shoulder. She twisted the blade and Draco couldn’t help but scream. _“Your name, young one.”_

 _“Fucking bitch!”_ Draco cried, _“You’re lucky I don’t have my wand!”_

 _“How dare you speak to a lady like that?”_ Musette demanded, pulling the blade free and plunging it into his chest; _“Oh; that was very close-I almost hit your heart. Are you ready to speak?”_ Draco shook his head, feeling helpless as tears streamed down his face; where was that moron Potter? He should be here saving him right now! _“Hmm…perhaps we should try something different.”_ Draco bit his lip again as the blade was removed and then gasped as he felt cold lips on his skin; Musette lapped at the wound for a moment before pulling back. _“Now, where shall I place the blade next?”_

Musette trailed the blade down Draco’s chest, and when she paused he knew what she was looking at.

 _“What is this?”_ she questioned, touching the almost-invisible scars across his chest, _“Who did this to you beautiful? Who scarred your perfection?”_

 _“A friend,”_ Draco replied, _“He showed me how weak I was, and how strong I could be.”_ He thought backto the incident in the bathroom; it was before they located the first horcrux, and he had received a letter from his father commanding him to sneak some Death Eaters into the school-the letter said that if he refused then his mother would be killed. Draco had almost given in, but Potter showed up as he was arguing with Moaning Myrtle; Draco had tried to curse him with the cruciatus and Potter had responded with a spell that had ripped his chest open-Draco spent the time it took him to recuperate to think about his decisions, and that was when he decided to fully support Potter.

 _“Ridiculous,”_ the vampire scoffed, _“They mar the perfection of your skin, but we shall leave them for now. Let us see how long it takes you to talk.”_

After that Musette began to cut him in earnest, alternately leaving shallow, burning cuts across his chest and plunging the blade in his skin to make deep wounds. Any wounds that bled too much she would stop and lap up the blood, sealing the wound so that he would not bleed to death. After ten minutes he was writhing in agony, in twenty minutes he was screaming himself hoarse, and after an hour he was on the verge of passing out. Before they left for this mission Severus had given Draco a potion to help him keep his secrets-a potion which would revolve around the memory of a single person-and so he conjured up an image of Potter’s face. By concentrating his thoughts on Potter-his ugly glasses, that ridiculous scar, and his complete disregard for the customs of their world-he managed to withhold everything from Musette, only giving her his name. The potion along with Draco’s memories of the Gryffindor prat helped him keep his silence, even though he thought he would go mad from the pain.

 _“Well, it is most disappointing that you still refuse to give me the information I require,”_ Musette said after several hours of the torture, _“However the dawn approaches and we must finish this. You have been most entertaining Draco, and shall make a beautiful addition to my mistress’ collection. First, we must clean you up. Angelito!”_

Draco looked up with blurred vision to see a tall man approach them; the man had black hair and as he leaned over Draco the sixteen-year-old wizard saw that his eyes were a cold aquamarine. Musette gave him some orders in French, but she spoke too softly for Draco to hear; the man-Angelito-picked Draco up and he cried out in a hoarse voice as his numerous injures protested the movement. After several moments Draco felt himself being lowered into a bathtub and he clung tightly to the image of Potter as his wounds were aggravated by the rough scrubbing Angelito gave him. When he was deemed clean enough he was brought out of the tub and wrapped in soft silk before being laid out on a couch.

 _“And now, Little One, it is time,”_ Musette whispered sweetly, running her fingers through his hair, _“The Dark Lord has our alliance, but my Mistress wants him to understand he does not have our obedience; he wishes you dead, but that would be a waste of your beauty, don’t you think? Lucky for you, my Mistress does so hate waste.”_ Draco had a hard time following her words, as he was on the verge of unconsciousness, but he understood what was happening when she tilted his head back and nuzzled his neck; he felt a sense of horror as delicate fangs sank into his neck, and then there was nothing but bliss before he was taken by darkness…

************************************

Harry looked up at the thin sliver of moonlight and tied another knot in his shoelace; this was the third night since he and Malfoy had been captured. Harry didn’t recall much of the facts about the attack because it had happened so quickly, but he had seen enough to know that they had been attacked by vampires-another victory for Voldemort, as the vampire Dumbledore had spoken with had stated that they would not participate in the war under any circumstances; obviously the Light simply hadn’t offered the right incentives. Harry looked over at the wall to his left and frowned; for three days he had been alone in this dismal room-four grey stone walls with a tiny window too high up for him to reach and no visible door-and completely cut off from the world.

He hadn’t heard any sounds at all until earlier this evening, when he had been startled out of an uneasy sleep by the sound of screams. It was Draco, Harry knew this without a doubt, and he had spent the better part of an hour trying to get out of his cell and save the other boy; it was all his fault Malfoy was being hurt-they should have waited for Dumbledore. Harry though, had been impatient; he was almost an adult, he knew how to duel and he was more powerful than many wizards twice his age, plus Hermione and Malfoy were the smartest students in their year-he had seen no reason to put off destroying another horcrux and weakening Voldemort’s power further. He hadn’t stopped to wonder what would happen once they destroyed the horcrux, and so when he used the Sword of Gryffindor to pierce the ring the backlash of magic alerted everyone nearby; unfortunately for them the only people nearby were Death Eaters, and so they had split up, Ron and Hermione going back to Hogwarts while Harry had grabbed Malfoy and disapparated, goading the Death Eaters into following them.

In retrospect, Harry really wished he had not forced Malfoy to come with him; he would never have endangered one of his friends that way, and it wasn’t right of him to endanger Draco. Hadn’t he already hurt the Slytherin enough on Halloween, when he sent that stupid curse at him? Granted, he hadn’t known what it would do, but that actually made it worse in some ways. And, regardless of intent, Malfoy would always bear the scars from Harry’s mistake…

Harry forced his mind away from the past and resumed looking at the far wall; the screams had stopped some time ago, and Harry thought that it would be dawn soon. He hoped the silence meant that Malfoy had passed out and was no longer suffering; he refused to even think about the other reason Malfoy may have stopped screaming. He growled in frustration; he hated not being able to do anything when one of his friends was suffering! Harry drew up short from where he had been pacing in front of the wall; since when did he consider Malfoy as one of his friends? He was unable to pursue this new and startling thought as he heard a grating sound behind him; when he turned he saw that the wall behind him was sliding open and he reacted without a moment’s thought.

Harry ran for the opening, but when he got near it he dropped into a roll and felt a moment of satisfaction as the rush of air above his head told him that he had just narrowly avoided being caught; once out of the room he rolled to his feet and began running. After he had passed the wards that kept magic out of his small cell Harry had immediately felt the pull of his wand, and he was heading towards it, planning to grab it and then locate Draco. Unfortunately, all his plans came to an abrupt halt as he was slammed into the wall by an invisible force; the force of the attack caused his vision to go blurry, and when he could see again he was back in his cell, sprawled at the feet of an amused vampire. She said something in French and he shook his head.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” he told her, “Who are you and what do you want? What did you do with my friend?”

“I hate English,” she replied in heavily accented English, “It is such a…boorish language. No matter; I am called Musette, and you are Harry Potter. Tell me, do you think you can withstand the torture as well as your friend? How long, I wonder, until you spill all of your secrets to me?”

“You’re delusional,” Harry laughed mockingly, “I have kept my secrets even when Voldemort tried to invade my mind-if your master can’t break me what makes you believe that you can?”

“He is not my master,” Musette sneered, and she greatly reminded him of Draco at that moment, “My mistress is much more powerful than your Dark Lord, and tonight we will show him that we are servants to no one. You get to deliver the message for us.” Musette paused and tilted her head thoughtfully; “You are certain you are sixteen? You look much younger.” Harry glared at her and refused to answer; even after hitting his growth spurt over the summer he was still shorter than all of his male friends, and a lot of the girls his age were taller than him as well. That, coupled with his slight build-results of many years of malnourishment and being forced to live in a cupboard-and his hair, which he had let grow to shoulder-length, made many people say he looked no older than fourteen.

“You won’t get away with this,” Harry said quietly, meeting her cold blue eyes steadily, “Draco’s family is very powerful and they will stop at nothing to make sure you pay for harming him; at least let him go.”

“Non,” Musette replied, “Draco has a part to play, and his family will not have the chance to avenge him. Interesting how you do not plead for your own life; why is that?”

“If you’re going to kill me just do it,” Harry told her, “I won’t tell you anything you want to know, and I won’t beg for my life.”

“We shall see,” Musette gave him a very disturbing smile, “Such a beautiful child you are Harry-especially those eyes…a pity I can’t keep you to play with longer. Look into my eyes.” Harry, completely forgetting all his Occlumency training, did as she commanded and soon found himself falling into her gaze. “Follow me, lovely one.” The feeling was similar to the Imperius Curse, but when Harry tried to fight it off he was enveloped in a warm caress that made him follow Musette and do her bidding. Without quite realizing what he was doing Harry found himself entering another room and stripping down completely, even handing over his glasses. He let Musette direct him to the middle of the room where she chained his arms above his head; as soon as the shackles closed the spell broke.

“What the fuck?” he demanded, pulling at the bonds, “What did you-what are you doing? Let me down!”

“We have little time before the dawn,” Musette informed him caressing his bare skin with her fingernails, “I spent more time on Draco than I had planned; I regret that now, as it means I have little time to play with you. We shall just have to make the most of the time we have, non?” Harry shivered at her touch and tried to pull away, feeling himself flush as her hand dipped down towards his member. “Oh, you are a virgin!” Musette sounded shocked, “Oh, the fun we could have had…perhaps there will still be time, but we had best get started.” Musette pulled away from Harry and walked around behind him; Harry strained to see what she was doing, but without his glasses all he could make out was a yellow blur. His only warning was a sharp crack and a whistling sound, and then Harry was crying out as he was struck with a whip.

“Yes, scream for me Harry,” Musette said as she brought the whip down again; Harry jerked away, but he had nowhere to go. “Such lovely sounds.” Musette brought the whip down repeatedly until Harry’s back felt as if it were on fire and he was sagging in his bonds, his legs no longer able to support him. He heard the whip fall to the floor, and then there were hands upon his ravaged back, pressing against the bloody lashes and increasing the pain so that Harry whimpered. Musette walked around him again and used one hand-covered in his blood, to lift his chin. As he watched Musette slowly licked the blood-his blood-off the fingers of her other hand, moaning at the taste. The sight and sound of Musette enjoying his blood made Harry blush and he tried to turn his head away but she would not allow it.

“So delicious,” Musette purred, “A pity Mistress will not let me truly taste you; the power one would get from draining you…” Without warning Musette broke off the sentence and pressed her lips to Harry’s, licking and sucking at them even though Harry kept them firmly closed. After a moment she pulled away, and Harry once again had no warning before pain blossomed across his chest.

“A riding crop,” Musette informed him, striking again, “It is a favorite of mine; I always use it before I bring out the real toys. Scream for me Harry.” The next strike landed across his nipple, and Harry did cry out at the pain, feeling tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. She continued to strike down his chest and stomach, and then he felt true pain as she brought the riding crop down on his flaccid penis. Harry had to bite his lip to keep from begging for the pain to stop; he would not give this psychotic vampire the satisfaction.

“I believe that is enough foreplay,” Musette announced, carelessly tossing the riding crop to the side. Harry’s wrists were freed from the shackles and he fell to the ground with a pained cry, drawing a soft laugh from Musette. The vampire picked him up and he was laid out on a table, his hands strapped down above his head and his feet spread apart and strapped to the table as well. Harry closed his eyes as he felt Musette move away from him and tried to brace himself for whatever was coming next; was this going to be his last moment alive? Or did she have more torture planned? For all her talk about Harry telling his secrets she hadn’t asked him a single question yet.

“Now Harry, you can still save yourself some pain if you answer me one simple question,” Musette said softly as she stroked the bloody lines crisscrossing his chest, “Why is the Dark Lord so intent on killing you? Why did he attack your family that night, and how did you survive?”

“You said one question and that was three,” Harry pointed out in a voice hoarse from screaming, “I’ll answer the first one for you-because Voldemort is a crazy bastard.”

“The truth Harry,” Musette’s voice held a note of warning as her nails dug into his skin, “This is your last chance.” Harry bit his bottom lip before opening his eyes; he was startled to find Musette’s face so close to his own, but he met her gaze defiantly.

“Voldemort is a crazy bastard,” he repeated, “If you want to know more ask him.” With that he closed his eyes again, focusing on putting up his Occlumency shields; Snape said that if he mastered Occlumency he would be able to use it to escape into his mind in case he was ever tortured-Harry gasped as he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Opening his eyes Harry could just barely make out a blade of some sort, which Musette twisted before pulling it out again.

“Dawn is nearly here,” she told him, “”I can feel it; Angelito, bring him in now.” Harry heard some soft sounds across the room, but he was unable to focus on them as Musette had begun making cuts along his arms down to his wrists; Harry heard a door open and then footsteps approaching.

“Even with the potion I have he will likely bleed out before sunset,” Harry turned his head to the side, straining to see the new arrival; it sounded like-

“Snape?” he called hoarsely, but he was ignored as Musette moved away from him. He could hear soft voices speaking in French, and then there was the sound of the door closing again. After a few seconds he heard footsteps approaching and he was able to make out Snape’s face as the potions master leaned over him.

“I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do for you Potter,” Snape said, “Dumbledore gave me strict instructions. You will not bleed to death; I have enough blood replenishing potions to last until nightfall.” A vial was pressed to Harry’s lips and he turned his head to the side weakly, but Snape didn’t allow the movement; the foul-tasting potion was forced down his throat, followed quickly by another.

“The second was a sleeping potion,” Snape informed him quietly, “I cannot heal you, but the potion will last for twelve hours; once night falls your fate will be in Draco’s hands and there is nothing I can do about it.”

“Traitor,” Harry rasped out, unable to truly focus on the words his teacher was saying, “At least…save Draco. My fault…”

“It was not your fault,” Snape said, “Everything that happened was planned that way; in any case, it is too late for Draco now-his fate has already been decided.”

“Bastard,” Harry spat out, fighting the effects of the potion, “Sirius…” Harry gave into the soothing a feeling produced by the potion and allowed darkness to take him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter of a new story…always exciting to write! I have had this idea in my head for a long time and finally decided to start posting. I plan on doing this as two parts, with the first part taking place in the UK and the second part taking place in the US. I only have the first few chapters of part 1 done so I’m not quite sure how long this will be, but I’d guess about 15 chapters or so. I have a lot going on, and work odd hours so my updates will may be infrequent but I will post when I can. I look forward to your thoughts on this first chapter, and hope you enjoyed!


	2. Conflicting Resolutions

When Harry awoke again he had his glasses on and he was able to tell from the fading light that it was nearly sundown again. He was still bound to the table and he still felt aches from his wounds, but they were not as painful as before.

“The numbing potion will wear off soon,” Harry looked up in surprise as Snape spoke, “You understand why I cannot interfere Potter?” Snape helped him take a few sips of cold water.

“‘Neither can live while the other survives’,” Harry replied quietly once his thirst had abated some, “Dumbledore told me…horcruxes. Voldemort can’t be killed…unless I die.”

“Yes,” Snape said calmly, “I am under orders from Dumbledore to make sure that the piece of the Dark Lord’s soul which resides within you does not leave this place tonight.”

“Dr-Malfoy?”

“They have decided not to kill him,” Snape replied, “You will see him before the end. You will begin to feel the pain again any second now; I cannot let them know I was helping you.”

“Always looking out for me,” Harry said sardonically, “I know I have to die but…if they are torturing me and you have the chance, can you-?” He broke off, looking up with pleading green eyes at the one teacher he hated, respected and trusted more than any other.

“If it is within my power I will grant you a quick death to prevent you suffering unnecessarily,” Snape promised, and Harry smiled at him weakly before wincing as the ache in his limbs grew worse.

“I’m only saying this because I’ll probably be dead soon, but thank you Professor Snape.”

“You are not quite as insufferable and conceited as your father,” came the reply, “The older you get, the more of your mother I see in you; you are truly Lily’s son.”

Snape’s last words were drowned out by a cry of pain as all of Harry’s wounds began burning painfully; he writhed in pain, further aggravating the lash marks on his back and the dagger wounds on his chest and arms began bleeding again. After several moments his body began to get used to the pain, and his cries quieted as his struggles became weaker. Harry knew what was probably coming; the vampires would finish him off come nightfall-unless they decided to turn him over to Voldemort. Remembering Musette’s disdain for the dark wizard Harry knew they would not turn him over; her mistress had a point to make. He shuddered as he remembered Musette’s fascination with him; he could only hope that she was not given the task of ending his life.

The sound of the door opening jerked Harry out of his thoughts and he steeled himself, swearing not to show these vampires any weakness.

“It is time Severus,” Musette’s unmistakable voice floated towards him, “You will have to release his bonds, as I am not allowed near him at the moment; Mistress said I came too close to ending his life.”

“Has she decided to bring him over then?” Harry could detect faint curiosity in Snape’s voice.

“She has decided it will be up to the young one,” Musette replied, “He is being brought now.” Harry felt cool fingers releasing his bonds and tried to get up, but he was too weak. “You should get out of the room before he arrives; you know how the young can be.”

“Of course,” Snape said, “I assume we shall be able to watch what happens?”

“Oui,” Musette said, “And later, perhaps you would agree to spend time with me this evening.”

“Perhaps something can be negotiated,” Snape replied noncommittally, “I suppose this is him?”

“Yes; he should awaken in a few moments; place the coffin here by the door Angelito,” Musette ordered, and Harry could hear something heavy being set down; “Good; now come-Mistress has the viewing room set up, and you have been invited to attend Severus.” Snape’s reply was lost as the door was closed again, and Harry knew that he was now alone in the room with a soon-to-rise vampire. He winced at the thought; he had done research recently and he knew that the newly-dead could be quite vicious in their feeding. On the plus side, they were not known to draw out the death, so at least it should be over with fairly quickly.

The room was silent for a long time, and Harry concentrated all his attention on making his weak limbs move. He managed to get himself into a sitting position and looked around at his surroundings. He was in the room that Musette had tortured him in-he could see the chains hanging from the ceiling as well as his blood on the floor-and he was sitting on an altar, not a table as he had previously thought. This room still had grey stone walls, but there were no windows and there was a heavy stone door set in one wall. As he took in his surroundings he heard a scraping noise; looking at the far wall he saw an ornate silver coffin-and the lid was slowly moving to the side. Harry looked around wildly, but the vampires had left him nothing with which he might defend himself; in fact, the only item they had left him was his boxers which had been put back on him at some point. Harry turned so that his legs were hanging off the edge of the table, but before he could attempt to stand the coffin lid was pushed completely off, and he froze as the vampire within slowly sat up; Harry couldn’t stop his surprised gasp-he would recognize that silver hair anywhere.

“Malfoy?” He called out softly and silver eyes focused on him; the eyes themselves were familiar, but the predatory look within sent a shiver of fear up Harry’ spine-there was nothing he could reason with in that gaze. Of course, that didn’t stop Harry from trying.

“Malfoy-don’t do this,” he said, keeping his voice low so that it wouldn’t tremble, “You can fight it.” The newly risen vampire made no response expect to glide towards him, flashing fangs as he smirked. “Don’t give into this-”

Harry suddenly stopped as he realized something; Malfoy had no choice but to drink from him-if he didn’t drain Harry then Malfoy would die-and Harry was marked for death anyway. Harry closed his eyes briefly and when he opened them again he was startled to see Draco standing just in front of him, head tilted to the side and silver eyes watching him curiously. Harry looked down at his torso, noticing that he was covered in blood from the wounds that Musette had made. The cuts crisscrossing his arms were still slowly seeping blood, and he slowly raised one hand, palm up, to Draco-an unmistakable invitation. Draco merely looked at him for a moment before his gaze locked on the slowly bleeding wounds.

Without warning Draco reached out and snatched his hand, fingers uncaringly digging into the open wounds on Harry’s forearm. Harry bit back a cry of pain but forced himself not to pull away as the blond leaned over and pressed his mouth to a cut on the brunet’s wrist, clamping down and beginning to drink. Harry fought to stay still and clenched his free hand at his side, averting his eyes so he wouldn’t have to watch that blond head bent over his wrist. The cut on Harry’s wrist was small, so the blood did not flow very quickly and soon Malfoy pulled away; when he looked at Harry those silver eyes held a spark of familiarity, and Harry knew that could be a problem-he needed to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated and he wanted Malfoy to finish it quickly. Harry tipped his head back in invitation and, after a seconds hesitation, Draco pulled Harry forward by the grip he had on his wrist, tangled his other hand in the brunet’s thick locks, and struck, piercing his jugular with unfailing accuracy. Harry gasped at the sharp pain and instinctively tried to pull away, but the vampire quickly released Harry’s wrist and wrapped his arm around the smaller boys waist instead, pulling him even closer. Harry let out a soft whimper and then-the pain vanished to be replaced by a feeling of total bliss. The pleasure from Draco’s bite overwhelmed everything else until he lay completely pliant in the vampire’s arms. All his worries about the horcruxes, his doubts about Dumbledore and his sadness at losing Sirius vanished to be replaced by pure pleasure, leaving him with a feeling of bonelessness.

Harry didn’t know how long it lasted, but he was suddenly aware of Draco pulling away, pressing a light kiss to the wound on his neck. It took Harry several minutes to come down from the high and when he did he realized that Draco was simply holding him, gently stroking his back. Harry stirred weakly and had to clear his throat before he could speak.

“Wh-why?”

“I had no choice Potter,” Malfoy said quietly, “They left you here, bleeding, knowing that I would be driven to feed; did I hurt you?”

“No,” Harry shook his head, pulling back so he could look Draco in his eyes, “Why did you stop? You can’t be satisfied yet; you were supposed to drain me.”

“Well I detest being predictable,” Malfoy replied, arching one pale eyebrow, “You act as if you wanted me to kill you Potter.”

“Yes!” Harry glared at him, “Why do you think I didn’t struggle? You were supposed to kill me! They will kill me regardless, and if I have a choice between you and Voldemort then I would rather it be you; at least you won’t torture me first!”

“I will not kill you,” Malfoy returned the glare, “Nor shall I allow the Dark Lord to kill you-”

“You don’t understand!” Harry tried to pull away but the blonde tightened his grip, “If you don’t finish me they’ll send Musette back in to torture me some more before turning me over to Voldemort! Malfoy-Draco-I have never begged for anything in my life-”

“Then don’t begin now,” Malfoy interrupted, shaking him by the arms, “For it won’t do you any good. I will not kill you, and I shall not allow the Dar-Voldemort to kill you either.” Before Harry could reply the door slammed open and then the room was flooded by bright light; the vampire let out a cry of pain and dove over the side of the altar, shielding himself from the light that hurt him.

“I am sorry about this Potter,” Harry squinted until he could make out Snape standing in the middle of the brightness, “They are allowing me one chance to get Draco to end this before they send Musette in; I am afraid I know of only one way to force him, and it will not be pleasant.”

“No Severus!” Draco growled, “I will not kill him; if you force me I will never forgive you!”

“Do it,” Harry replied without hesitation, “Do whatever needs to be done-no one will blame you for this.”

“Do not be daft Potter,” came the acerbic reply, “Of course they will blame me, but no more than I will resent myself, even though I know this has to be done. It is a variation of the spell you used on Draco.” Harry had barely registered the words when he felt a burning pain all over his body; unlike the cuts Musette made these were deep and Harry began screaming at the pain. He distantly registered the light fading, and then Malfoy was hovering over him, muttering different spells but none worked.

“Damn Severus!” Malfoy growled, grabbing hold of Harry’s shoulders; the brunette could vaguely feel sharp nails digging into his skin, but the pain was far away now. “Look at me Potter!” Malfoy commanded, and Harry opened his eyes to see burning silver eyes just inches away; “Don’t you dare die on me! I will not allow it; you are mine!” Harry felt Malfoy’s grip tighten and then there was a feeling of a warm wind-and the pain was gone. Well, not completely; he could still feel a faint echo of the pain caused by Snape’s curse, but it was much more bearable than before, and he didn’t feel quite as weak either.

“Idiot!” Harry pushed Malfoy away; he was surprised when the vampire actually moved but didn’t waste time thinking about it; Harry got to his feet and backed away from the blond; “You just-why can’t you for once listen to me! You heard Snape! They’re going to give me to Musette!”

“They won’t,” Malfoy growled, closing in on Harry with super-human speed and pressing him against the wall; “Mine!”

Harry watched, breathless, as Malfoy’s eyes glowed like a flame; the flames came closer to Harry and he instinctively pressed himself closer to the wall in an effort to get away but it was no use; the flames sank into his eyes and his world exploded with pain. Harry seemed to be trapped inside his own head, and he could see the silver flames fighting with a smear of darkness shaped like a lightning bolt.

“Mine…” the whisper came again and Harry whimpered at the pain in his head; the darkness was pressing against the flames, pushing them back…Voldemort-it had to be Voldemort’s mark on him, Harry realized, and the flames were Draco’s attempt to mark hm. So far it looked like Voldemort was winning. Harry wanted to help the flames-help Draco-push the dark influence out of his mind, but he didn’t know how. “He can’t have you,” the whispered voice came again, and Harry felt another type of pressure before the darkness vanished with a scream.

Harry opened his eyes to find his arms wrapped around Malfoy’s neck, the vampire’s mouth moving against his neck. Malfoy pulled back and Harry watched as he licked a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth.

“Wha-what the hell was that?” Harry demanded, moving his arms to push against Malfoy’s chest.

“I don’t know,” the blond replied, “It was instinct; they will not try to take you from me again.”

“You don’t own me Malfoy,” Harry scowled, “Besides, you can’t save me; I have to…” Harry trailed off as he thought about what just happened; he was a horcrux, Dumbledore had explained that much to him, and that was why he knew he had to die in order for Voldemort to be defeated. After a lot of training Harry had learned to sense the link between himself and Voldemort and he attempted to do so now-but it was gone, and in its place was a thread connecting him back to Malfoy.

“What have you done?” Harry whispered, eyes wide, “I-you marked me Malfoy; you destroyed my connection to Voldemort and now-”

“He had no right to mark you,” Malfoy growled, “I always wondered why I never received my inheritance; it is because my mate was already marked.”

“What are you talking about? What inheritance?”

“Are you really that daft Potter?” Malfoy sighed, “I am speaking about my Veela inheritance, of course; I should have received my inheritance before my mates sixteenth birthday, but my mate was marked by another and so I never received it.” Harry just continued to look at him blankly, so Malfoy continued; “You are my mate Potter; that is why I felt so protective over you. Something about being turned into a vampire awakened my Veela instincts, although the mark I gave you is definitely not the Veela mating mark…”

“You have marked him as a Master Vampire,” Draco instantly placed his body between Harry and Severus, who was standing against the far wall; “It takes many years to accumulate enough power to become a Master, but why am I not surprised you have the power so soon? Here Potter; cover up.” Severus first cast the cleansing charm on both boys to remove the blood and then conjured a black robe and levitated it to Harry, who gratefully pulled it on.

“Severus,” Draco growled, “Tell me why I should not kill you now.”

“Because I don’t want you to,” Harry said, “Professor Snape was just doing what we agreed on; you know about the horcruxes, but what you didn’t know is that I was one. The original plan was for Voldemort to kill me after we destroyed all the other horcruxes; by destroying his last horcrux himself Dumbledore believed Voldemort would basically be killing himself. I spoke to Professor Snape alone though, and he made an oath to ensure that I had a quick death if I was being tortured.” Harry looked around Draco’s shoulder as the blond was still not letting him get closer to Snape. “Draco destroyed the horcrux.”

“You never cease to amaze,” Snape said drily, “And I would imagine that it is your blood which has granted Draco so much power. I swear to you Draco, I have no intention of harming Mr. Potter; we have much to discuss and not much time; the vampires have received a message from their council, but shall be here shortly and I am not certain what will happen then. Sit.” Severus conjured three chairs and sat in one, gesturing for the boys to take the other two. Harry moved to take the chair across from Snape, only to have Draco transfigure it into a loveseat and sit next to him, resting one hand on Harry’s knee; there was a silent struggle as Harry tried to make Draco stop touching him, but the vampire was stronger and Harry eventually gave in with a final glare at the smirking blond.

“I am willing to give you the benefit of a doubt,” Draco informed his teacher, “However, if you make one move to harm my mate I will not hesitate to kill you.”

“I understand,” Severus replied, “Now, I know Harry is confused about what just happened so allow me to explain; Draco has Veela heritage, as his parents were mates. Draco had expected to get his inheritance this past summer, and when he did not receive it before the start of school we believed that he was not destined to find his mate. When the Dark Lord marked you Harry, he prevented Draco from sensing you as his mate, and it was only by him drinking your blood that he was able to sense the link between you.”

“I was uncertain what it was until Severus attempted to make me kill you,” Draco scowled at the potions master who merely gave him a blank look, “It was then that I…well, I am uncertain as to what exactly happened. I wanted you to be healed, and so I gave you some of my power and then I knew that I needed to remove the other mark…”

“Draco has marked you as his human servant,” Severus said, “It-”

“His what?!”Harry cried, glaring at Draco, “I am not anyone’s servant! If you think for one minute-” His voice was suddenly cut off and he glared at Severus, who had cast a silencing spell on him.

“If you would allow me to finish,” Severus drawled, “A human servant is respected by vampires; if the master vampire is unable to take care of something, the human servant can make decisions for him-or her. The vampire and human share their strengths, but also some of their weaknesses. There are four marks, and from what I saw Draco has given you the first three; the fourth mark requires you to drink his blood, and would allow him to share his immortality with you. The two of you are irrevocably connected, and if one of you dies so shall the other.” Having finished his explanation, Severus cancelled the silencing spell on Harry.

“Okay, what about the Veela thing?” Harry decided to get all the answers possible before trying to come to terms with how he felt, “Is Draco a Veela and a vampire?”

“I believe so,” Severus nodded, “If you had already been mated he would not have been able to become a vampire, and as a vampire he normally would not come into his inheritance; since you were his first-the first person he drank from, it has somehow allowed him to be both. Soon he will need to complete the Veela bonding ritual, but it will likely take a few days as his body is still getting used to the new changes.”

“Bonding ritual…that means?”

“We will mate,” Draco informed him, “and I will then mark you as my mate; if I fail to do this then I will die…or at least I would if I were not a vampire. I wonder what would happen since I have been turned?”

“You would most likely end your own life,” Severus replied, “Veela’s are not known to take their mate’s rejection very well.”

“But because of the vampire marks if he dies or kills himself then I die too,” Harry said, “So I really have no choice in the matter.”

“Not really,” Draco agreed, smirking when Harry glared at him, “For I refuse to let you die. You shall just have to accept the fact that you are mine.” Draco’s eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth at the wall; “They are coming.” The blond vampire got to his feet, standing in front of Harry and Severus as the door opened and two vampires came in; one was Musette, and the other was a petite brunette vampire with brown eyes. She was beautiful, but her power was frightening.

“You are very strong Dragon,” the new vampire said, “I am Belle Morte, Mistress of she who made you. Do you know what that means?”

“It means you expect me to bow to you,” Draco replied haughtily, meeting her gaze head on, “I shall show you the respect you deserve, however I shall not kneel before you, and neither shall my mate.” Belle’s eyes flashed angrily for a moment, before she smiled again.

“I do not expect you to kneel before me,” She said, “I will teach you all you need to know, and perhaps soon you shall have a territory of your own. As for your mate-will you not allow me to see him?” Now, Harry was not a coward, but this vampire frightened him; still, when Draco held out a hand to him Harry took it and allowed the blond to pull him up beside him. Harry was grateful to note that Severus had moved forward as well so that he was standing just behind them.

“This is my mate, Harry Potter,” Draco said, and Harry gave a small bow, earning him a smile from Belle.

“He is beautiful,” Belle said, “I have never seen such green eyes, nor have I felt such power from a mere wizard. Come to me Harry; let me taste you.” Harry instinctively stepped behind Draco, allowing the vampire to protect him. “You will not share with your mistress?” Belle demanded, her eyes darkening with anger once more, “Perhaps Musette needs to teach you your place; you are mine, and thus everything you own is also mine.” Musette smiled at Harry, flashing fang and making him step closer to Draco for protection.

“I may be a vampire,” Draco said softly, and Harry shivered at the danger in his voice, “However I am also Veela, and we do not share our mates. If you were to drink from him I would not be able to control myself, and I do not know what I would do.” Belle narrowed her eyes, but was distracted by Severus.

“Forgive him, My Lady,” Severus bowed, “Draco has just now received at least part of his Veela inheritance, which makes him extremely possessive and protective of his mate; he will become less possessive after the claiming, but in the meantime if anyone else touches Potter it will likely cause both of the boys to die.” Harry watched as Belle allowed her anger to fade, and she looked between him and Draco curiously.

“I see,” Belle said thoughtfully, “Disobedience is not to be tolerated, however I shall overlook your behavior this once Draco-it would be a pity to have you die so soon. I shall leave you to your mate for the night-tomorrow I expect to see better behavior from you.” Musette appeared to be disappointed that she would not be allowed to play tonight, but she quickly perked up when Belle smiled at her. “If your behavior has not improved, I will allow Musette to teach you and your mate a lesson.”

“Yes, Mistress,” Draco gave her a shallow bow, “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.” Belle and Musette left, but Severus remained as the door closed.


	3. History Lesson

“I will not stay here and let her dictate to me,” Draco informed Severus once he was certain they were alone, “I did not turn away from the Dark Lord just to be bound to another master.” The blond’s tone was icy, but Harry didn’t feel any fear-in fact, he felt satisfaction when he realized that Draco truly meant to protect him from these vampires. It was a very strange feeling, and he pushed it away as something to be dealt with later.

“That is the way of vampires,” Severus responded to Draco’s question, “You will have to pledge loyalty to a Master or Mistress, otherwise you would be considered rogue.”

“I don’t remember hearing anything about that,” Harry frowned, “Dumbledore had me studying vampires when he thought he would be able to negotiate with them. I never came across anything that said vampires were organized like this; I thought it was more common for them to survive on their own, or with just one or two other vampires.”

“That is in our world,” Severus said, “Much of what you know-what most of the wizarding world knows-about vampires is only half true at best. As the night is still early I will explain what I know about the vampires in whose presence we find ourselves. Dobby!” Harry and Draco were taken aback when the house elf appeared, but Severus didn’t seem to notice.

“Master Snape, how can Dobby help?” Dobby noticed Harry, and his eyes widened as his ears twitched with excitement, “Oh; it is Harry Potter sir! Headmaster is very worried about Harry Potter sir; now Dobby can be telling headmaster Harry Potter sir is being well!” Harry opened his mouth to reply, but he didn’t get the chance.

“Yes, you may tell Professor Dumbledore that Harry Potter is alive and-un-injured,” Severus said sternly, “First, however, bring food and drink for Potter.”

“Dobby is doing as Master Snape is saying!” Dobby said excitedly, “Dobby is being fast!” Dobby popped out and a few seconds later returned with a small table full of food and three different types of juice as well as water and a pot of tea.

“That will be all,” Severus said before Dobby could get started again, “We will call you if you are needed; go speak with the Headmaster.” Dobby bowed and left again, and Severus turned to Harry; “Fix yourself a plate, Mr. Potter-you have lost much blood.”

“Yes, Professor,” Harry agreed, but before he could move Draco picked up a plate and loaded it with food; he handed it to Harry before also pouring him a goblet of pumpkin juice, which the brunet accepted with a roll of his eyes.

“Prior to the Statue of Secrecy the magical world was co-ruled by the Vampire Council and the Wizards Council,” Severus began his explanation once the boys were sitting down again, “In 1654, 38 years before the Statute was enacted, the two councils had a major disagreement over political issues as well as dealings with the Muggle world, which lead to the Wizards Council casting a spell to expel vampires and were animals; a few vampires and werewolves chose to remain in the wizarding community, but they had to give up much of their power to do so. The spell performed by the Wizards Council included a mass memory charm so that the expelled vampires and were animals would completely forget about the wizarding world; they also created a barrier to make sure that the exiled beings would not be able to find their way back into our world. Vampires and Weres settled into their lives in the Muggle world, and set up their own governing bodies and customs.

The governing Lords at that time decided the Wizarding world would be safer if we didn't remember the true strength vampires and weres could have, so they destroyed as much literature as they could get their hands on and sent anyone who refused to accept the new truth to Azkaban. This, of course, only made people more eager to speak out, so instead the governing Lords began having individuals memories altered. By the nineteenth century the few who remembered the truth about the seperation of the council's knew better than to talk about it, and so today stories about werewolves who can change when they choose and vampires whose power rivals and sometimes exceeds that of wizards are considered to be nothing but myths.

Vampires and weres are known in the Muggle world, and in the United States they are considered legal citizens; in some states were animals can be killed without penalty, however to kill a vampire is considered murder unless it is self-defense.

During the first Dark War the barrier began to crack and we re-discovered the Vampire Council; at this time, the ministry also discovered that some squibs who lived exclusively in the Muggle world actually had magic, only it was different from that of regular witches and wizards. These so-called squibs use their skills in the Muggle world as animators (those who are able to raise zombies), sorcerers (they deal with dark magic), psychics and the like. Meetings were set up to discuss merging our worlds once again, and possibly even revealing ourselves to Muggles, but the ministry deemed it to be too hazardous at this time. Instead, the ministry created a secret department set up specifically to meet with the Vampire Council and discuss any issues that we have in common. When Voldemort returned the Council said they would not get involved, but both sides continued to bargain with them, which is how the three of us wound up in this situation. Now that Draco is a vampire and you, Harry, are his human servant it is unlikely that our worlds will remain divided for much longer. Questions?” Both boys shook their heads, and Harry set his plate down as he had finished eating while Snape was talking.

“The more powerful vampires have an animal to call,” Severus continued his explanation, “which means they have a certain amount of control over one specific type of animal; they can command the were animals in human form as well as animal form, and if a master vampire selects a member of the pack or pard to be his animal to call both gain power from the cooperation. You have a question, Mr. Potter?”

“What do you mean by were animals?” Harry frowned in confusion, “I know there are werewolves, but aside from that I thought all animal transformations were done by animagi.”

“That is not completely true,” Severus said, “Before the councils became divided there were several different types of Weres in our world; wolves, leopards, snakes, bears and rats are just a few. When the councils separated the majority of the were-animals left along with the vampires; to the ministry’s knowledge, only the werewolves’ remained, and they had to agree to severely limit their power in order to do so. The ministry was unaware that other were-animals chose to stay in the wizarding world, simply pretending to be animagi in order to hide their true identities. The difference between our werewolves’ and the weres that chose to be exiled with the vampires is control; the werewolves’ in our world gave up so much power that they are able to transform only on the nights of the full moon and they completely lose their human selves, while those who were exiled have the ability to transform whenever they wish and they are able retain their human intelligence.” Severus paused a moment before continuing;

“In addition to having an animal to call, Master Vampire’s can also have a human servant. If a Master Vampire chooses his human servant and animal to call fairly close to one another then they may form a triumvirate of power. This rarely happens, as most master vampires do not wish to share their power; many will choose a human servant or an animal to call, but not both. All vampires are required to take a loyalty oath to a Master or Mistress of a city; those who choose not to do so are outcasts. The master of the city is responsible for making sure the members of his Kiss-that is the correct term for a group of vampires-does not go out and cause mayhem. Belle Morte is the Mistress of the City for Paris, and she is known to be one of the most ruthless; those who are devoted to Belle are devoted unto death, and she will seek to make you devoted to her as well.”

“Belle Morte…her name means Beautiful Death?” Severus nodded, and Draco frowned, “How, exactly, does she intend to make me be…devoted to her?” Draco demanded, “I have no intention of ever bowing to her whims.”

“Many of the old masters and mistresses hold special powers,” Severus informed him, “Belle and many of her line hold the power of the ardeur. What this means is that Belle can inspire and feed on lust-and she can use that power to make you adore her. If you stay here then you will either fall under her spell or-if you are able to resist it-she may decide to kill you. What do you and Mr. Potter intend to do now Draco?”

“I still have to fight Vold-You-Know-Who,” Harry said, “The prophecy-”

“No longer applies to you,” Draco interrupted smoothly; he had learned the wording of the prophecy from Severus several months ago, “You are no longer marked by the Dark Lord, and thus you are no longer destined to fight him. If you fight him and die, I will die as well. I say you tell Dumbledore and the rest of the Order to take care of him; it is no longer your responsibility.”

“But-”

“Draco is correct,” Severus interrupted, “The headmaster did not know this, but the Dark Lord has always been aware of the fact that you carried within you a part of his soul; he very likely felt its destruction tonight, and next time you meet he will not try to kill you-he will simply do it. You have been taught a great deal of advanced magic Mr. Potter, and in a few years you would most likely have the power to defeat the Dark Lord, but right now your power is still developing.”

“But if I don’t fight him who will?” Harry questioned, “I don’t want to fight him-I really don’t-but no one else will; Professor Dumbledore said that I am the only one who can defeat Voldemort. Sorry Professor.” He added the last when he saw Severus wince upon hearing Voldemort’s name.

“Albus has more than enough power to defeat the Dark Lord,” Severus replied, “His only reason for not doing so was the prophecy; now that Draco has nullified the prophecy there is no reason why Albus should not resolve the situation. So, I ask you again; what do you plan to do? I recommend leaving the country.”

“We could return to England,” Draco began, but Severus shook his head.

“I would not advise it,” he said, “If you leave Belle will seek you out and try to bring you back-even if she has to break you to do it. I can make arrangements for you to go to America-specifically the United States-where you can seek refuge from a Master of the City.”

“Why would this master be any different from Belle?” Harry questioned.

“He is younger than Belle, and more modern in his thinking,” Severus informed him, “I have an…acquaintance who lives in his city, and I am certain that he will grant you sanctuary. It will take several days at least, so while you are waiting you may stay at Prince Manor; I am the only one who currently has access, and my house elf is the secret keeper so it is perfectly safe.”

“I still didn’t agree to this,” Harry protested, “I want to go back to Hogwarts; Ron and Hermione will be worried and I need to tell Dumbledore about what happened and-”

“You can talk to the headmaster and your friends once we get away from here,” Harry glared at Draco as the blond interrupted him once again, “I think we can both agree that we do not wish to remain here and wait for Belle to return?”

“No, I’d really rather not be here when she comes back tomorrow night,” Harry reluctantly agreed, “But how will we get out of here? I don’t have my wand, and I think they locked us in.”

“I can come and go as I please,” Severus said, “and I know where your wand is being kept. I shall wait until the sun has risen, then I shall retrieve your wand and summon my house elf to bring us to Prince Manor. Draco will be out for the day by that point, but we will be able to transport him safely once he is in his coffin.”

“I can feel the sunrise nearing,” Draco said, and Harry noticed that the blond was starting to look tired, “It is a few hours away, but I am still tired…”

“It is because you are newly risen,” Severus said, “You may have gained a lot of power by marking Mr. Potter, but the sunrise will still weaken you for some time. I will begin working on a potion to assist you with the weaknesses of your new form. I still have an appointment to keep with Musette; I will go meet with her and return after the sun rises; in the meantime I suggest that the two of you begin working out your differences. I would advise you against feeding again tonight Draco.”

“Yes Severus,” Draco agreed, “I know it’s not safe to drink too much at once.”

“Very well; I shall return shortly,” Severus gave Harry a nod and then left the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: A bit on the shorter side this time, but this just seemed to work as a good stopping point. So Harry Potter-Veela Mate, Vampire Servant…but no longer the Chosen One, thanks to Draco. I was trying to figure out a way to blend the HP world with the AB world, so I hope my explanation makes sense, at least a bit. Thank you for the reviews, and please let me know what you think! ‘Til next time!


	4. The Resolution of Differences and a Disappearance

“So…now what?” Harry asked once he and Draco were alone, “I mean Snape said we should work out our differences, but we already called a truce…” He trailed off, turning sideways on the loveseat so that he could face Draco.

“First of all, I believe you should start calling him Severus,” Draco said, “He is my godfather and as such you will be seeing much more of him.”

“I think I’ll wait til he gives me permission to call him by his first name,” Harry replied, making a face, “I have no desire to be used for potions ingredients.”

“Very well,” Draco conceded, “I suppose I should give you more information on Veela’s and their mates. Essentially, a Veela comes into his-or her-inheritance at the age of sixteen, and will generally locate their mate within months of receiving their inheritance. Occasionally there are Veela who do not have a mate because they have destinies that a mate bond would interfere with. Veela are very protective of their mates and very possessive-especially before the bond is complete and for up to a year afterwards. This means that you will have to renounce your dreams of being with Ginerva.” Grey eyes narrowed as he waited for Harry’s reaction, but the brunet simply shrugged it off.

“Ginny and I were never together,” Harry said, “Wait-you just used her first name; since when are you on a first name basis with Ginny?”

“For a few months now,” Draco said nonchalantly, “She came up to me one morning and said something along the lines of: ‘Luna said he was never mine; I know everyone thinks she’s crazy, but she sees a lot more that she lets on. She said your destinies are all tangled up together, so I guess I’d better get used to having you around. If you hurt him though-what I do to you will make the cruciatus seem like a tickle.’” Draco arched one pale brow as he met Harry’s gaze, “At the time I simply thought she had gone mad, however it seems Loony was correct in her prediction.”

“Luna almost always is,” Harry shook his head, “So looks like I was destined to be stuck with you-who did I piss off in a past life?”

“Hmph! You should be thankful to be my mate,” Draco replied, “When our bonding is discovered there will be numerous broken hearts-I am considered quite a catch you know.”

“You’re a spoilt git,” Harry replied with a grin, before frowning as a thought occurred to him, “But…you’re right; there are a lot of people who would have liked to be with you-if it hadn’t been for me dragging you along then you never would have been turned into a vampire and you could have had your choice of witches.” Harry bit his lip and looked away.

“And I would have never been truly happy,” Draco said sharply, drawing Harry’s gaze back to him, “Were you not listening earlier? You are my destined mate; we were literally made for each other, and if it hadn’t been for Voldemort then we likely would have grown up knowing one another and we would have been friends. The Potters and Malfoys were never exactly friends, but they did run in some of the same social circles-although the mate bond does not appear until later, a Veela and his mate will automatically be drawn to one another as soon as they meet, no matter their age. It generally starts as friendship until they are old enough for it to evolve into something more. Even with Voldemort’s interference I was still able to sense something about you; I was drawn to you that very first day we met in Madam Malkin’s, and the bond is why I was so obsessed with you throughout school.” Draco noticed that Harry was about to speak, so he continued quickly, “And no; the bond is not the only reason I want to be with you. I have always admired your courage and loyalty, even if it seemed stupid to me at times. For years I have wondered what it would be like to have you smile at me the way you smile at Granger and the Weasel, and I have always admired you Quidditch skills. Recently I had begun to notice the way your eyes sparkle when you laugh and I have wondered what it would be like to run my fingers through your hair.” Taking advantage of Harry’s wide-eyed startlement, Draco did just that, tangling his fingers in the thick locks, “And, I have wondered what it would be like to kiss you.”

Draco leaned forward, his fingers in Harry’s dark locks urged the brunet closer as he tilted the other boys head slightly so that he could press their lips together in a soft kiss. For a moment Harry was too startled to react, then Draco traced his lips with his tongue and they parted with a soft gasp; rather than press his advantage, Draco kept the kiss soft, gently massaging Harry’s scalp with his fingers until the other boy shuddered and wrapped his arms around Draco’s neck, pulling the blond even closer. Draco gently dominated the kiss, brushing their lips together again and again until Harry was breathless and pulled away; Draco relaxed his hold and watched as the other boy regained his breath.

“You are beautiful,” Draco whispered, tracing over one flushed cheek with a brush of fingertips; the compliment made Harry’s blush darker and Draco laughed softly, kissing him on the cheek before releasing Harry completely.

“That was…different than what I expected,” Harry said after a few moments of silence.

“Are you saying you didn’t enjoy it?” Draco demanded, grey eyes narrowing as he waited for Harry’s response.

“Of course I’m not saying that,” Harry laughed, shaking his head-who knew Malfoy would be so insecure over a kiss? “It was…it was amazing,” Harry’s blush returned as he spoke, “It’s just that with all the talk about possessiveness I expected it to be more…”

“Dominating?” Draco suggested, smirking suggestively, “I would be happy to kiss you in a more possessive fashion if you wish; I simply did not want to overstep my bounds at this point. It is Veela instinct before a bonding.”

“Oh,” Harry said, “Well…I don’t think that’s what Snape meant by resolving our differences.”

“I think it worked splendidly,” Draco countered, “I think we should do as Severus suggested and go to America for a while. If you stay here they will try to force you to fight Voldemort; no one will believe that you are no longer marked by him, and even the headmaster will likely wish you to participate in the war.”

“Even if I’m not marked any more I can still help,” Harry protested, “I have been training for this-”

“And even Severus says you are not ready,” Draco interrupted gently, “When you still held a piece of the Dark Lord’s soul I could understand you fighting against him, but you no longer have to do that. Dumbledore is more powerful than you, and he has experience battling dark wizards. You are only sixteen-why should you have to shoulder the burden of defeating the darkest wizard since Grindlewald when there are several fully trained, adult wizards who can do so?”

“But…you were helping, and you didn’t have to,” Harry pointed out, “How is my wanting to help now any different?”

“I helped because of you,” Draco replied, “I knew it would fall to you to defeat Voldemort and I did not trust the Order to keep you safe. You said earlier that you don’t want to fight-well now you don’t have to. Severus is giving us a chance to get away from the war-I think we should take it. Being bonded as Veela and mate as well as vampire and human servant will likely affect our magic; we need to go somewhere so that we can learn how to control it. Also, if we return to Hogwarts Belle will come after us; Dumbledore cannot protect us-only another Master of the City can.” Harry bit his lip uncertainly as he thought over Draco’s words-it was true that his connection to Voldemort was gone, removing the need for him to fight, and in addition he never really had a chance to just enjoy his life; ever since coming to Hogwarts there had been an ominous shadow above his head. Before that, his life with the Dursley’s wasn’t exactly what one would call enjoyable.

“Okay,” Harry said, meeting Draco’s gaze, “I agree to go to America for a while, but first I want a chance to talk to Hermione and Ron, and before we leave I want to visit my parent’s grave; I want to see where I should have grown up.”

“I promise you will have a chance to see your friends,” Draco agreed, “However if it isn’t safe to leave Severus’ house you may have to speak through the floo. Also, I will do my best to take you to Godric’s Hollow, but once again your safety comes first. I will not negotiate on this.” Harry scowled but nodded after a moment.

“Wait-just now you said that you wouldn’t let my go to Godric’s Hollow if it wasn’t safe,” Harry began, “Yet you debated with me about fighting Voldemort-why?”

“Because I knew that if I forbid you from fighting then you would just do it anyway,” Draco replied, “Just like when I told you not to go after the stupid horcrux; I had to give you a valid reason to forgo this war.”

“I’m sorry for that by the way,” Harry said guiltily, “I should have listened to you and ‘Mione; and I never should have dragged you along with me to distract the Death Eater’s. It’s my fault you were turned, and if it was done by Musette I’m sure there was a good bit a torture beforehand.”

“I don’t blame you Harry,” Draco said softly, “Rushing into danger is simply a habit of yours-a bad one that I intend to help you break. As for the torture…I really don’t even remember much of it.” Grey eyes hardened as he remembered the state Harry was in when he had been drinking from him. “You were tortured,” Draco stated, grabbing both of Harry’s hands and turning them over, examining his arms for injuries before reaching to pull open the robe.

“Stop that!” Harry snapped, slapping his hands away, “Yes, I was tortured but I’m healed now; it must have had something to do with those vampire marks Snape mentioned; we really should have gotten more information about them.”

“Musette did this,” Draco stated firmly, “Tell me; what did she do to you?”

“Probably what she did to you,” Harry replied, sighing in resignation when Draco continued to stare at him expectantly, “She used a whip and a riding crop, then she began cutting me with a dagger. I remember Snape came in to give me a blood replenisher and he said that I lost a lot of blood; I think I came close to dying. Happy now?”

“Not until I rip her limb from limb and feed her to a dragon,” Draco growled, “Are you sure you are healed now?”

“Yes,” Harry said firmly, “Whatever you did healed me; at first it just stopped hurting so much but the last thing you did seemed to heal me completely.”

“Good,” Draco said, “Now…we need to…” Draco shook his head to clear it; the coming dawn was beginning to affect him.

“You should go to bed, or whatever,” Harry said getting to his feet, “Snape should be back soon, and then we can leave.”

“Don’t want-need to protect you,” Draco said haltingly even as he allowed Harry to help him stand, “Musette-” Harry led him over to the silver coffin, an arm wrapped around the taller boy’s waist.

“Is busy with Snape,” Harry interrupted, and then shuddered, “That is a thought I did not want to have. I will be safe Draco; sleep and we can talk some more tomorrow night.” Draco nodded.

“Very well; I shall sleep,” he said, “Just…promise you won’t try to leave me?”

“I promise,” Harry said; he hesitated for a moment before leaning up to brush his lips against Draco’s in a chaste kiss. Draco smiled sleepily before climbing into his coffin and pulling the lid shut; as soon as the lid was closed darkness claimed him.

After Draco retired to his coffin Harry made his way back over to the loveseat and sat down, closing his eyes as he thought about what had happened over the past few hours. He had been tortured almost to death, been Draco’s first meal as a vampire, been marked as a human servant, and discovered that he was a Veela mate. His life was intimately connected to Draco’s, and now they would be stuck with each other for the rest of their lives. He frowned; he really should have asked more questions about the vampire marks and what he could expect in the future. Oh well; he could always ask Snape whenever he returned. Harry yawned and slid down on the loveseat; he would just rest for a bit…

A few minutes later the door opened and Angelito entered, followed by a man covered completely by a dark cloak.

“Ah yes; he is sleeping,” the cloaked man said, “Excellent; excellent! Just a little spell to make sure he doesn’t wake for a while…” the cloaked man cast a spell on the brunet sleeping on the couch. “Once his task is done your mistress can have him; just make sure she keeps the Malfoy boy away until then.”

“My mistress will do as she pleases,” Angelito said, “You will make certain the boy is returned to us alive or Mistress will not be pleased.”

“Of course, of course,” the cloaked man said cheerfully, “Now, I have here a port key that will take him to where he needs to be. Oh yes; one more thing-if your mistress would be kind enough to keep Severus here as well I would greatly appreciate it.” Angelito made no reply but watched silently as the cloaked man took a bracelet out of his pocket and secured it around Harry’s wrist. A tap of his wand and the bracelet shimmered before it transported Harry elsewhere. “He will be in a secure location; do not attempt to find him.” With those parting words, Albus Dumbledore let the hood of his cloak fall and apparated out of the room; he had some memories to alter.

*****Two weeks later….

“Where is he?!” Draco raged, destroying the sitting room once again, “No one should be able to hide him from me; he is my mate!”

“Calm down Draco,” Severus commanded, “He is alive; you know that, and it means we still have a chance to find him. Albus knows many secrets that even the Dark Lord has never uncovered, however it is only a matter of time before we unravel them.”

“But I need him!” Draco’s rage fell away to be replaced with a feeling of despair, “Severus…it has been two weeks! I can feel myself growing weaker every day; I can barely force myself to feed and I just want to destroy things until he is safe with me again. He promised he wouldn’t leave me.” Severus gazed sadly at his godson, who was now sitting in an armchair, his head down dejectedly. With a mental shake Severus got himself back together; it would do no good for both of them to despair.

“Well, obviously you feel like destroying things,” Severus sneered, “Look at the mess you have made of my sitting room! You will clean it up at once, and then you shall join me in the potions lab where we will test the newest potion. As for Harry leaving-I am certain it was not by choice, and we will find him.”

“Yes Severus,” Draco said, looking for all the world like a depressed teenager; his vampiric powers had lessened some every day since Harry’s disappearance. Severus swept from the room, leaving his godson to clean up the mess.

Two weeks ago Severus had left his…meeting with Musette and immediately searched for Harry’s wand; he quickly discovered that he could not sense the magical signature any longer and hurried to the room where he had left the brunet and his godson, only to find that Harry was gone. There were traces of magic in the air, and Severus had recognized it as belonging to Dumbledore. As he stood there trying to decide what to do he had hear the click of a lock and when he tried the door he discovered he was locked inside; even with his wand he was unable to break the lock and quickly came to the conclusion that Dumbledore wanted him out of the way. Well, fine; he would get out of the way, but he would not play by Dumbledore’s rules. The old man had no idea Severus had inherited Prince Manor, and so he decided to follow his original plan; he and Draco would stay at his ancestral home until they could locate Harry, at which point the three of them would leave for the United States.

Severus activated his emergency portkey and set Draco’s coffin in a downstairs room which he warded with magic so that Draco would not be able to attack him when he discovered his mate was missing. Once that was taken care of, Severus sent off a letter to his friend in the U.S. and then set about trying different locating spells to find Harry; none of them worked, nor did the potion that required a lock of Potter’s hair. By mid-morning Severus was out of ideas and decided to go to bed; he would try again when his godson was awake.

That night when Draco awoke he immediately knew Harry was gone, but he did not rage as Severus had expected. Instead, he demanded to know what Severus had already tried and came up with several new ideas; when none of them worked he destroyed the sitting room for the first time. The second day Draco awoke he was slightly weaker, and could barely drink the bottled blood Severus provided him. When they failed to locate Harry again that night he once more destroyed the sitting room, and continued to do so at least once a day every day thereafter.

Now that it had been two weeks and they were unable to find a trace of Harry, Draco had started to fall into a deep depression; every night he awoke later and succumbed to the dawn earlier. If he had just been a vampire the separation from his human servant would not have caused such distress, but since his Veela instincts had been awakened he was slowly fading. Severus didn’t think Draco would actually die, but he did worry that his godson would simply fail to wake one night; he had heard tales of vampires who slept for hundreds of years only to awaken crazed and he feared that would be Draco’s fate if they failed to find Harry.

To add to their worries, Narcissa was missing as well; Severus thought that she was likely still with the Order and Albus was simply keeping her to use as a bargaining chip later. Actually…it was highly possible she was being kept in the same location as Harry, and they had yet to try the Familial Location Potion. Severus looked at the half-finished potion in stasis; this was another one to find Harry, but perhaps they should try locating Narcissa instead. Nodding his head decisively Severus set up another brewing station and began gathering the necessary ingredients…


	5. Revelations

“Hey Mate, want to play chess?” Harry slowly turned his head from where he had been looking out the window to face Ron, who had a chess set in his hands and was looking at him expectantly.

“Not today Ron,” Harry tried to give him a smile, but it came out as more of a grimace, “I don’t feel very well, and I wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Why don’t you challenge ‘Mione and I’ll come watch?”

“All she ever wants to do is research,” Ron scowled, “And you’re no fun either! Ever since we left for the holidays all you’ve done is sit up here and mope; what’s wrong with you?”

“I-I don’t know,” Harry frowned, “I mean, being in this house reminds me of Sirius and I miss him but…it just feels like something is off. I’m so tired all the time, but Pomfrey says there is nothing wrong with me…” Harry trailed off; he knew that he hadn’t been much fun ever since he was brought back to Grimmauld Place, but he couldn’t seem to shake the memories of his time spent with the vampires. Draco’s screams still haunted him at night; and then, when he had the chance to be free, Draco had insisted on Harry being released instead. Draco and Snape might be dead even now, dead because of him; how was he supposed to enjoy the holidays knowing that two more people could be dead because of him?

“I think you’re just trying to get attention,” Ron sneered, “Poor Harry, all depressed and alone because no one understands him…Come off it mate! Enough already! Whatever’s bugging you just let it go and enjoy Christmas-unless you think you’re too good for us now?”

“Ronald!” Both boys turned at the shout to see Ginny standing in the doorway, hands on her hips in a frightening impression of Mrs. Weasley, “How dare you talk to Harry like that! He’s feeling depressed-don’t make him feel worse! You remember what Dumbledore said he went through that night! Get out of here before I tell Mum what you said!”

“He doesn’t deserve you defending him!” Ron yelled back, “He knows you’re in love with him, and he’s been leading you on this whole time! Ack!” Ron choked as Ginny threw what looked like a marble at his head; the small sphere exploded and brown fumes surrounded his head, making him gag and run out of the room with the fumes following him.

“What was that?” Harry asked curiously as Ginny walked over to sit next to him on the window seat.

“One of the twins newest inventions,” Ginny replied with a smirk, “It’s a stink bomb, but the smell only sticks to the person it hits. Unfortunately the twins haven’t figured out a way to get the smell off so Ron will just have to wait for it to go away on its own.”

“And how long will that take?” Harry questioned, the beginnings of a smile on his face.

“Oh, about two days,” Ginny said, unconcerned. Harry shook his head and laughed, the first time he had done so in two weeks.

“Ginny! How could you do that to Ron?” Ginny and a still-laughing Harry looked up to see Hermione glaring at them from the doorway, “And Harry; Ron is your best friend! Why didn’t you help him?”

“It’s not my fault he can’t protect himself from his baby sister,” Harry replied with a grin, “Besides-he was asking for it.”

“Just wait until I tell Mrs. Weasley-”

“Do and I’ll tell her exactly what Ron was saying to Harry when I came in,” Ginny interrupted, “He accused Harry of being an attention hog again; we all know what happened that night you three-four-disappeared and Harry is the only one who seems to care about the fact that Malfoy didn’t come back! We can only guess what Harry went through considering the state Dumbledore found him in, and Draco is still with those-those monsters!”

“Of course I care that Malfoy got captured while trying to help us!” Hermione protested, “We never should have brought him along in the first place, and using him as a distraction-”

“Enough!” Ginny interrupted, as she saw Harry’s eyes darken again, “Let’s not talk about it right now. You should go talk to Ron; I’ll keep Harry company.” Hermione looked like she wanted to argue, but the expression of self-loathing on Harry’s face was enough to make her change her mind.

“Okay,” She agreed, “I’ll go speak with Ron. And Harry? It-none of it-was your fault. Dumbledore knows how you are, and at the very least he should have had people watching us while he was away; after five years teaching us you would think he’d know better.” Harry gave her a weak smile which she returned before leaving the room.

“She’s wrong, you know,” Harry told Ginny, “It is my fault. I was the one who insisted the four of us go after the horcrux; Professor Snape and Mrs. Malfoy both told us to wait. Then, I was the one who destroyed it without giving any thought to what would happen next, and I told Ron and Hermione to leave while Draco and I distracted the Death Eater’s. I forced him to come with me! I don’t remember getting caught, but I remember the torture, and Draco’s screams next to me…Professor Snape came in to try and negotiate, and the vampires agreed to let either me or Draco go if Snape stayed and…Draco told them to let me go. He had a chance to get free, but he chose to stay and be tortured so that I could have a chance to defeat Voldemort…and what am I doing? I am sitting inside a stupid house, forbidden to go outside until the holidays are over! It’s driving me crazy Gin!”

“I know Harry,” Ginny said softly, placing a hand on his arm; he looked down and saw tears in her soft brown eyes, “I am so sorry that you had to go through that, and that Draco and Professor Snape are still suffering. I’m sorry that I misjudged them all this time, but I’m not sorry you’re here; we need you Harry, whether the adults want to admit it or not. It’s this house that’s making you crazy-same as it did to Sirius. Dumbledore was mad to confine you to the house and you need to get out of here, if only for a few hours.”

“And how do you suggest I do that?” Harry demanded, “Anytime I leave this room a charm goes off so that someone can come find me and make sure I don’t try to escape.”

“I do not mean to interrupt,” they looked up to see that this time it was Narcissa entering the room, “but I wanted to check on you Harry. I heard what you said, and I do not blame you for Draco; he was clever enough that he could have gotten either Severus or myself to stop you four from leaving, but he was determined to show that he could be useful. Severus and Draco gave up their freedom for yours, however I know that they are still alive. Come with me Harry; I have something to show you. You may come as well, Ginerva.”

“Can you please call me Ginny?” the red-head pleaded, “I really hate being called Ginerva!”

“Very well, Ginny,” Narcissa smiled, “Come.” Harry and Ginny shared a look before following Narcissa out of the room; once in the hallway Harry felt the locating charm activate and seconds later Remus appeared.

“Hello Harry and Ginny,” Remus greeted, “How are you Mrs. Malfoy?” He was eyeing the trio with ill-disguised curiosity.

“I am well, thank you Mr. Lupin,” Narcissa replied politely, “Harry has been feeling guilty again, and so I wished to speak with him about Severus and my son; Ginny asked to come along and I agreed.” Harry blinked as he realized that Narcissa had lied to make it seem as if Ginny was keeping an eye on him.

“Well, what Harry did was reckless,” Lupin said, looking at the brunet with disappointment showing, “but the other children did go along with him of their own free will, so it was not really his fault. Will we see you downstairs for dinner tonight Harry?” Harry shrugged non-comittaly and turned away from his father’s old friend; it hurt to know that Lupin also felt he was responsible for what happened-Lupin said Harry wasn’t responsible, but from his tone of voice Harry knew that wasn’t how the werewolf truly felt.

“If he doesn’t feel up to joining everyone I’ll make sure he eats,” Ginny volunteered, “I can keep him company Professor.”

“I’ll trust you to look out for him then Ginny,” Remus smiled, “I’ll just go check on the twins; they’ve been rather quiet today and Molly is certain they are up to something. We’ll talk later, okay Harry?”

“Sure,” Harry said, still not looking at him. Remus sighed sadly before turning away.

“Shall we continue on our way?” Narcissa was moving even as she asked the question and Harry and Ginny quickly followed her to the end of the hallway and up a staircase to a floor where only those of Black blood were permitted to go. “The Weasley’s and the Potter’s have Black blood flowing in their veins,” Narcissa informed them, “Which is why you are able to enter these rooms. Ginny’s Black ancestor was several generations ago, so she might have trouble accessing this floor without another person of Black ancestry accompanying her, however Harry’s grandmother was a Black so he should be able to access this floor at any time.”

“Does that mean that no one else can come up here?” Harry questioned.

“Only my niece, Nymphadora,” Narcissa replied, “Ginny’s siblings may also be able to come up here, however, as I stated before, I believe they would need to be with someone else who has Black ancestry. If you ever wish to get away from everyone you are welcome to come up here. Now, what I wish to show you is in the family drawing room; it is much smaller than the one downstairs.” Narcissa led the silent teens down the hallway to a set of French doors that opened into a drawing room. The room was smaller than the one downstairs, and much more inviting; the walls were dark blue with a silver baroque design while the furniture was made of cherry wood with grey fabric. There was a small fireplace and a few bookcases, but none of the ostentatious decorations that were common in the rest of the house.

“This is what I wanted to show you,” Narcissa led them to the wall across from the fireplace; it looked like just a blank wall, but when she touched it hundreds of lines began to appear seemingly at random before joining together to reveal names. “This is the true Black Family Tree,” Narcissa told them removing her hand, “The names on this family tree cannot be removed by any witch or wizard.” She pointed at a section of the wall where they could see the name “Andromeda Tonks nee Black” connected to Theodore Tonks, with the name Nymphadora below it. “As you can see, my sister and her family are on this version of the tapestry. There; this is my family.” She pointed to where her name was connected to Lucius’, with Draco’s name below theirs. “If you touch Lucius’ name-” she gestured at Harry and he did so; some of the other names moved over and Lucius’ family tree appeared, “You see, this one shows all the Black family, whether they are related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Now, if you look above mine and my sisters names, you will see my parents’ names; do you see a difference in the writing?”

“Their names are in silver,” Ginny replied, “and yours are in black. Is this because they are dead?”

“Correct,” Narcissa smiled down at the redhead, “Now-look at Draco’s name.”

“It’s silver,” Harry said softly, lowering his eyes so that he wouldn’t have to look at Narcissa; Draco was dead and it was all his fault!

“Look again Harry,” Narcissa commanded, “and pay attention this time.”

“I was paying attention!” Harry protested, “His name is in silver with a black outline…why don’t your parents’ names have a black outline?” Harry tilted his head as he noticed the difference.

“My parents are truly dead,” Narcissa replied, “Two weeks ago Draco’s name appeared silver as well and I thought he was gone forever, then the outline appeared. I researched the magic behind our family tree and discovered that a black outline indicates that a family member is no longer simply human-Veela do not show up differently as our family have had Veela ancestry going back hundreds of years-, and once they die the outline vanishes. Can you guess what that means?”

“Draco isn’t human?” Harry frowned, “But then why did it turn-oh! You think he’s been turned into a vampire!”

“Yes,” Narcissa smiled, “While I would, of course, have preferred my son to remain a wizard the fact that he is a vampire means that he is not lost to me. Now, touch his name.” Harry obeyed without question, and another name appeared connected to Draco’s.

“Severus Snape?” Harry questioned, “Why is his name in red?”

“Because he is Draco’s godfather, and thus he is not truly a Black,” Narcissa told him, “Now, do you see the other line next to my son’s name? The one that has a blank space on the other end?” Harry and Ginny nodded. “That is a mate line,” Narcissa said, “It only appears when a family member has married or, if they have Veela blood, found their mate. This line appeared after Draco’s name changed, so he found his mate while he was with the vampires, however the fact that there is no name attached to it means that he has not completed the bonding with his mate.”

“So you think his mate is a vampire and he hasn’t been allowed to mate?” Harry asked in confusion, “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It is dangerous,” Narcissa confirmed, “However that is not what I believe happened. I believe that Draco discovered his mate, only to have them taken from him.” When Harry continued to stare at her uncomprehendingly Narcissa gave a soft sigh of impatience.

“Harry,” Ginny touched his arm, and Narcissa shot the girl a thankful smile, “Who, aside from the vampires, has Draco been in contact with since he became a vampire?”

“I don’t-I don’t know,” Harry frowned, “I was freed before-wasn’t I?” His eyes lost focus as a snatch of memory came back to him; silver eyes burning with hunger, burning flames chasing away the darkness…

“Harry?” Ginny’s voice brought him back to the present and he shook his head, but the images wouldn’t go away.

“I think-I think I was there after he was turned,” Harry said softly, “But I don’t-I can’t remember. He-his eyes were glowing and there were flames and…he broke the connection but made a new one. It’s-it’s all jumbled up and…”

“Hush now Harry,” Narcissa placed a hand on his shoulder, then reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes in a soothing gesture, “It is going to be alright; you will remember when the time is right.” They were all quiet for a moment, and then Narcissa directed him to another name nearby on the family tree. “Cousin Sirius and his brother Regulus.” Narcissa said, “It was so sad what happened to them; Sirius in Azkaban and poor Regulus killed by the Dark Lord.” They all looked at the names of the two brothers, and then Harry gasped as he noticed something that Narcissa had not;

“Sirius isn’t silver,” Harry said, “Narcissa-his name is still black; does that mean-?”

“Yes,” Narcissa sounded breathless, “I have no idea how, but he is still alive. I never really look at this section of the family tree; I am always looking at my husband and son.”

“I have to get to him,” Harry said, “If he is alive…he’s in the veil and there’s no telling what he’s going through!”

“The veil?” Narcissa frowned, “I heard that he was killed at the ministry, but no one ever said anything about a veil. Tell me what happened.” Harry quickly gave her the details about Sirius’ fight with Bellatrix and Narcissa frowned thoughtfully before moving over to one of the bookcases.

“It is the Macabre Veil,” she informed them, “The veil connects our world with that of the dead, and one can actually travel between the two worlds if they are powerful enough and have a strong connection to someone on each side of the veil; that is, a living relative and a deceased relative. Since Sirius fell through the veil without knowing what it was, he is likely wandering the in-between. He will be growing weaker every day, and there are tales of hallucinations as well. The only one here with a strong enough connection to Sirius is you, Harry.”

“How do we get back out?” Harry asked; now that he knew he could save Sirius he was going to do it, and no one would be able to stop him.

“Since you have no living relative’s you will have to use a magical artefact,” Narcissa said, “Our family used to own the Macabre Veil until the ministry confiscated it, but they did not get this.” Narcissa reached on top of the bookcase and pulled down a simple wooden box, which she handed to Harry. Ginny looked over his shoulder and gasped when she saw the labyrinth engraved on the lid; when Harry opened it they saw a ball of golden string.

“Is that-?” Ginny looked at Narcissa with wide eyes.

“The string that Ariadne gave to Theseus,” Narcissa confirmed, “to help him find his way out of the labyrinth after defeating the Minotaur. It serves two purposes; the string is a guide to prevent one from becoming lost, and it serves as a reminder to be true to your family.”

“How does it remind you to be true to your family?” Harry questioned, having never heard the story of Theseus and the labyrinth.

“This story is very well known in our world,” Narcissa began, “In the ancient world, when the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus ruled over all, the queen of Crete fell in love with a white bull. No interruptions Harry.” Harry snapped his mouth closed and Narcissa continued, “She disguised herself as a cow, and allowed the white bull to mount her; nine months later she gave birth to a son who was half man, half bull. Her husband, King Minos, built a labyrinth to keep the child hidden and when it was older he had one of the kingdoms that owed him tribute send seven youths and seven maidens as a sacrifice every seven years. Minos’ daughter, the Minotaur’s half-sister Ariadne, was in charge of the offerings. One year a youth named Theseus arrived as part of the tribute; he was a hero and had sworn to slay the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love with Theseus and betrayed her brother; she told Theseus how to get to the center of the labyrinth, informed him of her brother’s weaknesses and provided him with a sword to fight and a ball of golden string to find his way back out. After Theseus defeated the Minotaur he took Ariadne and her younger sister with him and left the island. Soon after Ariadne became heavy with child, and he left her on the island of Cyprus, stating that it was for her own safety and that he would return for her after the child was born. He left the magic ball of string in her possession. Several months later the Minotaur, the brother she had helped murder, came to her in a true dream and told her that her betrayal was for nothing-Theseus had wed their youngest sister Phaedra. In her anger and grief Ariadne cursed Theseus and said that all he touched would be destroyed; her curse held true, and the ancient world-as well as the Gods and Goddesses who ruled it-was destroyed. And so, Ariadne passed the story and the golden string to her daughter, who passed it down to her own children and so it was passed down through the family-the golden string and the story to show that betrayal of family could only result in disaster.” Narcissa finished her story and saw that Harry was frowning.

“She had-er, I mean, she was…intimate with a bull?!”

“Is that all you heard?” Ginny demanded, “Were you even paying attention to the story?”

“Yes, of course!” Harry said, “Ariadne betrayed her brother for Theseus, who then left her for her sister. Then, Ariadne cursed Theseus and destroyed her world. She didn’t sound like a very nice person.”

“She was a woman scorned,” Narcissa said with amusement, “Not only was she scorned by her lover, but she later discovered that Athena had told Theseus to leave her-Athena had actually commanded him to leave both sisters, but Theseus evidently decided he deserved some sort of prize. The name Ariadne is still used, however most believe Phaedra to be responsible for the fall of Olympus and so the name is considered to be bad luck.”

“But Phaedra didn’t do anything wrong,” Harry protested, “Theseus is the one who chose her over Ariadne, and Ariadne created the curse.”

“Well, the story goes on to say that Phaedra fell in love with Theseus’ son from a different wife,” Ginny told him, “When he didn’t return her love, she told Theseus his son raped her, and Theseus killed his son. So, Phaedra wasn’t completely innocent.”

“That’s crazy,” Harry shook his head, and turned his attention back to the box which held the golden string, “How am I going to get to the ministry? Dumbledore will never let me go; I’m still supposed to be confined to the house.”

“Not to mention going into the veil will be dangerous,” Narcissa added, “The string will help you to find your way, but it cannot assist you with any challenges you may face. I have books with accounts of what people face in the veil, but they are all at Malfoy Manor and I, too, am on house arrest.”

“Call Dobby,” Ginny suggested, “He should be able to get you to the ministry and back without Dumbledore knowing.”

“Yes, but you will need to send Sirius somewhere safe,” Narcissa said, “Harry, I am certain Dumbledore knows the secrets of the veil and Remus Lupin is close to Sirius, so he would have been able to pull him out.”

“And he never tried to get Sirius’ name cleared even though he knew he was innocent,” Harry agreed, “Where can he go?”

“I-have a suspicion that Draco and Severus are not with the vampires as Dumbledore would have us believe,” Narcissa said, “I believe that they escaped and Severus has taken them somewhere safe. After you rescue my cousin summon Dobby and have him take Sirius somewhere safe, and then ask him to deliver a letter to Severus; I will write to Severus and tell him what has been happening here and ask for his assistance. I will give it to you after dinner; wait until everyone has gone to bed before you summon Dobby.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, closing the box and putting it in his pocket, “Thank you Mrs. Malfoy-”

“Call me Cissa,” Narcissa interrupted.

“Okay, um, Cissa,” Harry said awkwardly, “I-thank you for the help, and I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused. Draco told me not to go after the horcrux, but I thought I knew better, and Hermione and Ron always agree to go with me, so I really didn’t think anything about Draco agreeing to come. And then, when the Death Eater’s appeared I sort of made Draco help me distract them, so it’s my fault he got captured and turned into a vampire and-”

“You were tortured and injured as well,” Narcissa interrupted once again, “Harry, yes you were reckless, but Draco chose to go with you. He could have quite easily refused, or even summoned a house elf and ordered it to prevent you from leaving. I do not blame you, and when I see Draco again I fully intend to remind him that just because he has friends who are Gryffindor’s that does not give him leave to act like one.”

“I think that was an insult Harry,” Ginny mock-glared at Narcissa, “Slytherins obviously think we’re fool-hardy heroes who rush into danger without giving it a second thought.”

“That’s an unfair generalization,” Harry agreed, “Not all Gryffindor’s rush into danger without thinking about it…it’s pretty much only me.”

“Well, that is a habit we will have to break you of,” Narcissa smiled, “After, of course, you rescue Sirius. I think I should go with you; it would be dangerous for you to go alone.”

“They watch you even more carefully than Harry,” Ginny pointed out, “I think that I should-no; Luna should go with Harry. No one ever watches her, but she is really smart and she can take care of herself. People always seem to forget she’s a Ravenclaw.”

“Luna would be acceptable,” Narcissa said thoughtfully, “Her father is Lucius’ cousin, did you know? Yes, she is well-versed in hexes and charms, and she will keep her wits about her. You will get a message to her Ginny?”

“Sure,” Ginny nodded, “We have a two-way notebook. Of course, she probably already knows what we’re planning; when Dobby shows up to get her she’ll probably have a new pair of mismatched socks for him.”

“So I’ll call Dobby around midnight,” Harry said, “Then we’ll get Luna, go to the ministry to save Sirius, and Dobby will bring me back here and Luna to the school.”

“You make it sound so simple,” Narcissa said drily, “Well, we had better return to the others; they likely think I have poisoned the two of you. Remember Harry-you are welcome to return to the floor anytime you need to get away,” she pointed at the wall to a far branch of the family tree, where underneath Dorea Potter nee Black and Charlus Potter and James Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans, the name Harry Potter gleamed in black ink that still looked wet; “You are part of the family.” Narcissa turned to walk out of the room and Ginny followed with Harry coming last; he was glad, because Narcissa’s words had made his eyes suspiciously wet. Damn allergies.

 


	6. Within the Veil

~~~~Chapter Six~~~~~~  
Harry stood in the Death Chamber with Luna to his right and Dobby standing just behind them. In his right hand Harry held his wand, while his left hand clutched the box in his pocket.

  
“The blibbering humdingers are singing tonight,” Luna said, breaking the silence, “They, and the melodic mistlefaeries, have been very joyful lately, which is a good omen. I have some butterbeer for Sirius; he will be cold.”

“Thanks Luna,” Harry smiled down at the blond; since the incident at the ministry last year Harry had made more of an effort to get to know Luna and he found himself looking at her as a little sister. Also, he found that he could usually understand her nonsense nowadays, which is why he knew she had just told him that she’d had a vision that he would save Sirius. “You have Narcissa’s letter for Severus?”

“Yes,” Luna nodded, “I’ll just go visit with the Trundle Trolls; they tell the funniest stories.” Luna walked a few feet away and plopped down on the floor; a few moments later she began giggling wildly and Harry shot a panicked glance at Dobby.

“Harry Potter is not worrying,” Dobby said, “Dobby is making room safe; no one is hearing Luna Lovegood. Harry is saving his Siri.”

“Right,” Harry agreed, “I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” He opened the box and took out the string. “Er…do I need to tie this to something?”

“Harry Potter is dropping the ball outside the veil,” Dobby instructed, “String is unrolling and showing Harry Potter the way. When Harry Potter is ready to leave he is picking up the string and following it back out.” Harry nodded his understanding and walked over to the veil; he dropped the ball of string at his feet and watched as it rolled through the veil, unraveling as it went. Taking a deep breath, Harry grasped his wand tightly and stepped into the veil after the string.

Once he passed through the veil, Harry found himself surrounded by a grey mist that his lumos was not able to penetrate; the only thing visible was the slender gold thread leading him further into the deepening gloom. Harry walked for several minutes through the silent fog when-without any warning-he suddenly stepped out into a sunlit field. Turning around he saw that the grey mist was still behind him, but it ended suddenly as if cut off by a wall…or a spell. With a shrug Harry looked around at his new surroundings; as he had briefly noted before Harry was standing in a bright, sunlit field. All around him was grass and wildflowers, with a tall tower at the far edge of a field and a large wall made of gleaming white stone behind it. At the base of the tower was an ominous-looking tangle of dark trees, which is where the golden string led him to.  
As he got closer to the tangle of trees, Harry could make out a figure trapped within them and his heart gave a lurch; Sirius! Without further thought Harry ran towards the tangle of trees and called out:

“Sirius! Don’t worry! I’m here!” He was running so fast that he almost ran into the trees, and when he was finally close enough to see the figure inside he felt an immense disappointment; it was not Sirius, for this person had short black hair and bright blue eyes.

“You there; you must set me free,” the person commanded, “I did nothing to deserve this, so you must help me.” There was a light laugh behind them and Harry spun around to see a beautiful woman with long black hair and grey eyes; the look in her eyes was cold as she glared at the prisoner, but it softened when she gazed at Harry.

“Really Theseus, have you no shame?” the woman chided, “Can you not see that this boy is not here for you? He is on a mission, and you seek to distract him; you shall not be freed until you have paid your penance for the life you took and your betrayal.”

“And how is it I am the only one being punished for betrayal?” the man named Theseus demanded, “I never would have succeeded, if not for you!”

“And I have already paid for my misguided actions,” the beautiful woman replied sharply, “I was young and fell in love with a man who was underserving of me-the follies of youth! Asterius has forgiven me for my betrayal; that fact that I was genuinely repentant may have had something to do with it.”

As the two continued to bicker Harry’s eyes widened; the lady had called that man Theseus, and they spoke of betrayal-could it be that she was-

“Ariadne?” Harry squirmed uncomfortably as a pair of harsh blue eyes and warm grey eyes landed on him.

“How rude of me,” the woman smiled, “Yes Love, I am Ariadne and this is the fiend Theseus. Who might you be, to carry my golden thread?”

“My name is Harry Potter,” he said, “I came to rescue my godfather Sirius Black, and the thread was given to me by his cousin Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.”

“Ah yes; Narcissa,” Ariadne smiled and her face lit up, “She is a credit to me; so beautiful and cunning, yet deeply loyal to her family…”

“Unlike some I could name,” Harry turned his head at the new voice and couldn’t help but take a step back in alarm; walking towards them was a half-man, half-bull; His head was that of a white bull with pale blue eyes, while the rest of his body was human-like, except for the fact that it was covered in soft white fur and his feet ended in hooves; “Planning to free Theseus and betray me again Sister? Or have you contracted this boy to kill me now? It would be a shame for-”

“That’s enough now Asterius,” Ariadne said firmly, “Stop scaring the boy; Harry is here to rescue his godfather, and he has my golden thread so no challenge today.”

“But it’s been so long since I’ve been challenged!” Asterius complained, “You wouldn’t let me challenge that man who passed through several months ago; ironic how you’re all loyal to family now that you’re dead.”

“Wait-was that Sirius that came through a few months ago?” Harry took his courage in both hands and spoke up, “That’s who I am here to save; my godfather Sirius Black. He has black hair and grey eyes like Ariadne and-”

“Yes, Sirius did pass through here,” Ariadne interrupted with a soft laugh, “We did not challenge him because he is of my blood. Come now Asterius; why don’t you take your true form and stop making Harry so uncomfortable.”

“Spoil all my fun,” Asterius grumbled, but complied none-the-less; Harry watched in awe as the features of the bull melted away to reveal a handsome man with black hair, although the pale blue eyes stayed the same.

“Shouldn’t you be blond?” Harry questioned, “Since you had white fur?”

“No,” was the reply, “Tell me, Harry; do you have any desire to free Theseus?”

“Yes!” Theseus shouted, “Free me young Harry; challenge the dread Minotaur and release me from my unjust imprisonment! You shall be greatly rewarded by Athena, my patron Goddess!”

“Why hasn’t she freed you then?” Harry asked, and Theseus shut up, glaring at him sullenly; Harry turned to Asterius and tilted his head thoughtfully, “As for whether or not I want to free Theseus…not really. I only came here to free Sirius; if Theseus was innocent and in danger I would probably try to help him, but he did murder you, even if it was over a thousand years ago, and so I guess you have a right to your vengeance.”

“He’s a monster!” Theseus cried, “I had to kill him to save the virgins! Every seven years the Minotaur would kill seven warriors and then deflower and kill seven virgins! I had no choice but to kill him!”

“How many times have I told you that I did not kill them?” Asterius demanded, “I used a secret tunnel to let them out of the labyrinth, and in return each would bring me food on a regular basis for six months; they didn’t return to their homes because they were angry at being sent as sacrifices!”

“Well…you still deflowered the virgins!” Theseus said petulantly.

“Yes, on occasion,” Asterius conceded, “But only if they were willing. Besides, you did your own fair share of deflowering virgins; have you forgotten that you stole away two of my sisters?”

“Okay boys, that’s enough,” Ariadne interrupted what appeared to be a common argument, “Come Harry; I will tell you what I can about this world within the veil so that you may continue your journey. Please pay no attention to my brother and my beloved; they never did grow up.”

“Your beloved?” Harry questioned, “But…I thought…he’s being punished?”

“Oh, you didn’t think he was being punished for killing Asterius all those years ago, did you?” Ariadne laughed, “No, we left that life more than two thousand years ago; we have been reborn numerous times and will likely be born again in the future. In between our lives on Earth, we guard the path between life and death. As for Theseus’ imprisonment…in our last life, a hundred years ago in America, Theseus and Asterius argued and Theseus killed my brother in a fit of rage. He has been imprisoned as punishment for being so impulsive.”

“So…his punishment is for being impulsive, not for killing Asterius?”

“Correct,” Ariadne smiled, then continued her explanation as Harry still seemed confused, “By now the three of us have realized we are immortal in a fashion-it is not that we can never die, but that we can be reborn and have a new chance at life anytime we desire. Sometimes the three of us are born as friends, other times we are born as enemies; when we are at odds with one another it is perfectly acceptable to gain an advantage by killing a rival, however it is inexcusable to kill one another in a fit of temper.”

“What about Phaedra?” Harry asked, “Didn’t Theseus-“

“Yes, he married my sister after leaving me in our first life together,” Ariadne admitted, “And it took me several lifetimes to forgive him. Phaedra, however, was not truly in love with Theseus; she found her truelove several generations ago and they come to visit on occasion. Now, you haven’t much time left to rescue Sirius,” Ariadne changed the subject,

“He has already been in here long enough to drive most people mad, however since he has my blood flowing through his veins there is still time to rescue him. If you go around the tower you will find a door within the wall; this is the entrance to the labyrinth. As you can see the thread has stopped at Theseus, so you will have to pick it up again and then drop it as soon as you pass through the gate; follow the thread and you will not encounter any danger, however if you lose the trail I cannot speak to your safety. Do not stop, do not hesitate; find Sirius and lead him back out of the labyrinth. When you emerge from the labyrinth you will not have to go back through the mist-you will be able to step directly back into your world.”

“That means I won’t get to talk to you again?” Harry questioned; he found himself fascinated by the ancient legends he had met today.

“No,” Ariadne shook her head, “Not today at least. Sometime in the future we may meet again, however once your memory returns you will be too busy to remember us; perhaps when you are reunited with your mate…” Ariadne shook her head again when Harry started to ask her another question; “No time for this now; gather the thread and be on your way.”

“Yes Ma’am,” Harry replied, and Ariadne smiled at him indulgently, brushing his bangs out of the way so she could brush a soft kiss against his forehead; Harry felt a slight tingle where her lips had been, but the mysterious smile on her face told him he wouldn’t get any answers, so he simply gave her a smile in return and went to collect the thread from where Theseus and Asterius were still arguing.

“Oh, are you leaving then?” Theseus said, interrupting himself, “Come now Asterius; won’t you at least let me out so I can bid my descendant farewell? It is, after all, almost time for lunch.”

“I suppose,” Asterius grumbled, “You’re free for the remainder of the day, but tomorrow after breakfast you’re going right back in there!”

“Do I have to?” Theseus pouted, “I have spent five hours a day in there for the past hundred years; when will it be over?”

“When you genuinely repent of your actions,” Asterius replied as he removed the enchantment and the trees vanished.

“Did you just say I’m related to you?” Harry demanded of Theseus.

“Of course!” Theseus beamed, “Where do you think you got your bravery from? Your family is descended from Godric Gryffindor, who was my son in the life I lived a few generations ago. I am disappointed that you didn’t free me, but I suppose I can understand it. Now, I see that my wife has given you her kiss of blessing, so what can I give you?” Theseus pondered for a moment, before taking out a small mirror. “This will show you anything, anywhere, at any time. It was…er...given to me by the fates a while ago.”

“You mean you stole it from the fates,” Ariadne corrected, “Still, they can see the future and so the fact that they let you get away with it means that they wanted you to have it.”

“I have something for you as well,” Asterius announced, removing a dagger from his belt, “I made this in my second life; after I was reborn and reached maturity I returned to where I was buried and took the horns off my skull-don’t give me that look!1 It was my skull, and the dagger is useful! I twisted the horns myself to make the handle, the emeralds I found in King Minos’ treasury, which had been long ago forgotten, and the blade was created by magic and bathed in each of the five rivers of the Underworld, giving it special powers beyond any ordinary blade. Even here, in this place between life and death, we have heard of you and your destiny Harry Potter; take this dagger as my gift and use it well.”

“I-thank you, Asterius,” Harry said, taking the dagger with no little trepidation; he put it in his back pocket and then bid the three guardians of the gate farewell before walking around the tower to find the entrance to the labyrinth. Once through the gate Harry dropped the ball of thread and followed it as it unwound once more. Remembering Ariadne’s warning Harry followed closely the trail of thread, ignoring the mysterious sounds that tried to lure him off the path. Nothing actually crossed his path, and soon Harry found himself at the center of the labyrinth, where he saw a hunched form sitting beneath an apple tree.

“Sirius?” he called softly, and the figure jerked his head up in surprise.

“Harry?” the voice was raspy, but Harry would recognize it anywhere; with a half-sob he ran towards the figure that was slowly standing and crashed into him with such force that they fell backwards into the tree. “Harry!” Sirius cried happily, hugging his godson tightly, “It is you! They said you would-but I thought-I can’t believe you’re here Pup!”

“Of course I’m here,” Harry grinned as he pulled back, wiping tears out of his eyes, “You didn’t think I’d leave you here, did you?”

“But…how?”

“Narcissa showed me the Black Tapestry,” Harry replied, “The real one. When we saw you were alive, she loaned me the golden thread.” He gestured at the thread glittering on the stones behind them; “When I got here I met the guardians Ariadne, Theseus, and Asterius…” Harry proceeded to tell him what he had discovered and showed him the gifts Theseus and Asterius had given him.

“Wow!” Sirius shook his head, “I didn’t see anyone when I got here; I found a table set with food outside the tower and fell asleep after eating; when I woke up I was here. There was a note telling me that I was between life and death, and that I could pass through the dark gate-” he gestured to a gate at the far side of the enclosure- “into death, or remain here and wait for someone to free me. I chose to wait, and I was visited by strange people in my dreams; they claimed to be the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece, and they all told me that my journey wasn’t over yet and you would come save me, but I was never really sure…”

“Well, I did save you and now we should leave,” Harry said, grabbing Sirius by the arm and moving back towards the ball of thread.

“Not yet,” Sirius pulled free and turned back to the apple tree, plucking a bright red apple before turning back to Harry, “I was told to give you this before we leave; the apples on this tree are special, and this one is the Apple of Truth. If you eat it you will be able to remember things you have forgotten and see the truth; it will also show you bits of the future, but the effects will fade once we reach our world again; the magic of the fruit will help you to eventually throw off any memory charms you have on you, but it will take some time.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, remembering the frustration he felt when speaking with Narcissa and Luna earlier; maybe this would help him remember what happened to Draco. Harry took the apple and ate a few bites before he had to close his eyes as the memories came flooding back; he remembered everything from the moment the vampires had captured him to the moment he awoke in the room with Dumbledore and had his mind invaded by the headmaster. He realized that he was no longer a horcrux and lacked the power to defeat Voldemort, and also recognized that Dumbledore didn’t care and would still use him as he saw fit. He also glimpsed the future and saw that he would end up facing Voldemort anyway, and that only after the confrontation would he see Draco again. Draco; he felt a slight pang when he thought about the blond, but he still wasn’t sure how he felt about being tied to him for the rest of his life. This thought came and went, and then he was thinking about Sirius and Professor Snape and came to an uncomfortable realization that quickly passed as the thoughts and images in his mind faded.

“I have to return to Dumbledore,” Harry said when he opened his eyes, “You need to go stay with Snape. Draco Malfoy is with him; tell them that I am doing what I have to do and that I will seek them out as soon as I can.” Sirius looked as if he wanted to argue, but simply nodded instead; he too had eaten the fruit, and he knew that certain events had to happen. “Also,” Harry said hesitantly, “Can you...please tell Draco that I didn’t leave him on purpose. When we leave here I’ll give you the golden thread, and I want you to wait two days before giving it to him.”

“Okay,” Sirius agreed, “I don’t like it, especially since I won’t be with you and I have no idea what will happen, but…I know this has to be done, and I know that everything will turn out alright in the end. I’m not sure how I know this, but I can just…feel it deep in my soul; things are happening as they are meant to. And that’s enough depth for one day; come on Pup-let’s get out of here.” Harry nodded with a smile and bent down to pick up the golden thread, which they followed back to the gate. They stepped through it together and found themselves in the Department of Mysteries. Harry had just enough time to see that Luna and Dobby were beaming at him before he felt all his strength leave and he crumpled to the floor in a dead faint.

“He won’t remember any of this night,” Luna said softly, kneeling down to stroke Harry’s black locks as she smile up at Sirius, who was also swaying on his feet, “He will be okay, and I will tell Narcissa and Ginny not to mention you to him because he won’t remember this in the morning. He is growing weaker away from his mate, but I know they will be reunited soon. Oh! Did you see the gift Ariadne gave him? Harry won’t be very pleased, but he still has time before the gift is awakened. You had better go Cousin Sirius; here is the box for the thread.” Luna handed Sirius the box and as soon as he took it the thread-which had rolled up into a ball again-jumped into the box; Sirius closed the lid and pocketed it.

“How am I supposed to find Snape?” Sirius demanded, gazing at his godson with worried eyes.

“Dobby is talking to Misty,” Dobby said, “Dobby is giving Misty letter from Mistress Malfoy for Master Severus. Misty is returning after speaking with Master Severus.”

“Okay Dobby,” Sirius interrupted, “Take Harry and Luna back, and I’ll wait here for Misty. If she doesn’t return in twenty minutes I will find somewhere else to hide. Go now; make sure Harry is alright.”

“Oh, he was just bitten by a snufflefly,” Luna said cheerfully, “He’ll be right as kittens in the morning. Good-bye, Stubby Boardman!” Before Sirius could make a reply, Dobby bowed and disapparated with the two teens, leaving Sirius alone in the ministry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) I got this idea from the book “Hades Daughter” by Sara Douglass. 
> 
> Sorry for the long time between updates! Hope you enjoy!


	7. A Fruitless Search and a Meeting with Destiny

~~~~~Chapter Seven~~~~~~

“What potion are you working on now, Severus?” Draco asked as he entered the workroom, where he found Severus carefully measuring ingredients and adding them slowly to a simmering cauldron, “Did you already test the other one?” After destroying the study some of Draco's rage had faded, and now he just felt a pang of longing for Harry, which he forcefully hid behind a calm mask.

“The potion to locate Harry is still in stasis,” Severus replied without looking up from the cauldron, “It occurred to me that your mother is likely being kept in the same location as Harry; since there are heavy protections keeping us from locating your mate, I thought we could try to locate your mother instead. A familial locating potion is the strongest one out there, and if this doesn’t work we will have to resort to other methods.”

“Such as kidnapping a Weasley and demanding an exchange?” Draco suggested; this was an idea he had thought of many times in the past week, and he had finally reached the point where he was actually considering trying it.

“Let us save that as a last resort,” Severus said drily, “I would rather not deal with any Weasley’s unless absolutely necessary, and there is also no guarantee that the Order would agree to the exchange. I was rather suggesting we try a ritual, however first we must still test the two potions. The potion to locate your mother needs a drop of your blood as the final ingredient. You must add it as soon as the first bubble appears-the timing must be precise.”

“Yes, Severus,” Draco joined him by the table and picked up a silver blade that was lying in wait, before asking curiously, “What would you have done if I had not come down here in time? The potion would have been ruined.”

“This potion can be held under a stasis charm,” came the reply, “Besides, after these last two weeks I know exactly how long it takes you to recover after one of your fits.” Severus smirked at his scowling godson.

“It wasn’t a fit!” Draco protested, crossing his arms over his chest, “I was simply...expressing my extreme displeasure at being unable to locate my mate.”

“Be that as it may, the next time you destroy my study there will be consequences." Severus gave Draco a hard glare before turning his attention back to the potion, "Ah, it’s ready; now Draco. Remember; just a drop.” Draco quickly pricked his finger with the silver blade and allowed one drop of blood to fall into the potion just as the first bubble appeared. When his blood mixed with the potion it began a fast boil and the liquid turned from a murky grey to a silvery-blue.

“Now it simply needs to simmer for an hour,” Severus informed him, “Which means there is plenty of time for me to finish the other potion, as it will only take an additional thirty-six minutes to complete.”

“What do you need me to do?” Draco asked.

“We will need a mirror for the familial locator potion,” Severus told him, “Go find one that is big enough for us to get a detailed view-and do not take it out of the bathroom. Better yet, the dining room table has a glass top-I have some potion in the cupboard against the wall which will turn the glass into a mirror once treated. It will require several coats, and they must be applied evenly and allowed to dry completely in between applications. If you will do that, I shall finish the potion to locate Harry.” Draco nodded his agreement and immediately went to fetch the potion before heading up the stairs to begin work on the dining room table.

Forty-five minutes later….

“Well, another failed potion,” Severus sighed as the cloud of smoke, which was supposed to show an image of Harry and the room he was in, simply showed them Harry’s face, eyes narrowed in anger, before dissipating, “Has the last coat on the table dried?”

“Yes, Severus,” Draco replied sullenly, “But what is the use? I can’t find Harry, and if Mother is with him then I won’t be able to find her either. I’ll end up dying before I get a chance to be with my mate.”

“You will lose your mind long before the separation kills you," before Draco could comment on how not comforting that was, Severus continued, “However, we still have time before that happens, and there are several other options to locate Harry which we have not yet begun to explore; we have been trying potions because that is what you and I both excel at, however there are still charms and rituals we have not yet looked into. If this potion to locate your mother fails we will begin looking into those other options.”

“Master Severus, please be excusing Misty,” a house elf appeared in the room, by way of the door-Severus had broken all of his house elves from apparating into his work room-and bowed, “Misty is having message from Dobby from Mistress Malfoy.”

“From Narcissa?” Severus asked, ignoring the way Draco stilled beside him, “Very well; bring it here Misty, and wait for a reply.” Misty handed him the folded parchment sealed with the Black crest on it and he quickly opened it. The letter was not very long-nor informative.

“Severus,

I cannot tell you where I am because the house is under the Fidelius Charm, however I can tell you that I am safe and so is Harry. I have been examining the true family tapestry lately, and I have come to a few conclusions; I am aware that Draco is a vampire, and I still love him. The tapestry shows that he has found a mate, but the name is not yet visible, and I believe I am correct in guessing that Harry is his mate. Dumbledore brought Harry back to us approximately two weeks ago, feeling very weak and with several injuries. I believe his memory has been altered, for he only remembers being tortured along with Draco, and that you, Severus, offered yourself in Harry’s place. He has recently begun to have flashbacks which confuse him, and I believe he would seek you out if Dumbledore had not placed him under house arrest.

Tonight Harry is going to slip out of the house for a short period of time, and Dobby is going to help him. I would have sent him to you, but I do not know where you are or if the place you are in has wards strong enough to disrupt the trace Harry has on him. Earlier this evening we discovered that Sirius Black is still alive-why did no one tell me that he had fallen into the Macabre Veil? I have given Harry Ariadne’s Thread, and he, along with Luna Lovegood, are travelling to the ministry so that he can rescue his godfather. It is not safe for Sirius to return here at this time, so I ask that you give him sanctuary until such time as Harry and I can make our escape from this place. We are both being watched very carefully, and the only reason I allowed him to go to the ministry is because not even Dumbledore’s spells can penetrate that place. Misty will bring this letter to you once Harry has rescued Sirius and returned to the Order Headquarters; once he is with you, Sirius may be able to lead you to us, provided Dumbledore did not somehow ward the house against him. Have faith, old friend, and perhaps we shall see each other again soon. Please give Draco my love, and do not let him despair.

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.”

“Well, your mother is alive and well,” Severus said as he handed the letter to Draco, “and so is Harry. It seems that he has been on another rescue mission, and your mother has asked me to shelter that cousin of yours. Your thoughts?”

“Mother says he may be able to lead us to her and Harry,” Draco replied, having already finished reading the letter, “If Harry gives him the thread-it can go through any enchantment and we could find them quickly. Regardless, Mother thinks we should shelter Cousin Sirius, and I believe we should do as she asks.”

“I agree, much as I am loathe to allow that mutt in my home,” Severus sighed, “It is very possible that he will have an idea about where Harry and Narcissa are being kept. Very well; Misty, go fetch Sirius, and tell him the secret. Bring him up to the dining room, and then prepare a room for our guest.”

“Yes, Master Severus!” Misty bowed and popped away. Once she was gone Severus turned back to the potion, which was now two-toned; half of the potion was the silver-blue color from before, while the other half was a pale lilac. Severus carefully stirred the potion six times clock-wise and then twice counter-clockwise and the potion returned to the silvery-blue color. He ladled the potion into two spray bottles and handed one to Draco and then they went back upstairs to the dining room.

“We will stand on opposite ends and work our way around the table clock-wise,” Severus instructed, “When we return to our original locations you will state your mother’s name and then…we shall see. Are you ready?” Draco nodded and took his place at one end of the table-the top of which was now a shining silver mirror-while Severus took his place opposite. “Begin.” They walked slowly around the table, making sure to spray the potion out in an even coating; just before they reached their original positions Draco was aware of someone else entering the room, but since they did not try to interrupt he ignored them. As he stepped back into his original spot Draco looked down at the table which was covered in a silvery mist and said in a soft, clear voice; “Narcissa Malfoy nee Black.” The mist turned into a silver glow which swirled on the table top before sinking into the surface and showing a row of town houses; the image was focused on two homes in particular-Number 11 and Number Thirteen. In the upper right corner from where Draco was standing he could see his mother sitting in an unfamiliar room, reading a book.

“I know where that is,” Draco and Severus both looked up at the voice to see a man with long, unkempt black hair and the grey eyes commonly found in the Black family approaching the table, “She is in one of the guest rooms at-” His words cut off and he began to choke; after a moment he continued in a raspy voice, “She’s at the family home.”

“Which is under Fidelius,” Severus said, “And Albus is the Secret Keeper; he changed the wards somehow so that we can no longer get in.”

“Made sense to name him Secret Keeper at the time,” Sirius shrugged, “I could always go to the goblins and tell them that I don’t wish Dumbledore to have that access any more, but then the ministry would probably send me back to Azkaban and I have spent enough time locked up.” His grey eyes were haunted, and he gave a shudder at the thought of returning to that hellish place.

“I need to get there,” Draco said, his voice remaining calm even though he desperately wanted to attack this man and force him to take him to his mate, “You will make it happen.”

“There are other ways, without me revealing myself to the ministry” Sirius said, “I can’t tell you the name of the location, but I can tell you that the street is Grimmauld Place. Look at those two houses; what are the numbers, and which number is missing?”

“Twelve,” was Severus’ instant reply, “But we still will not be able to see the house, even if we are standing in front of it.”

“I can still see it,” Sirius countered, “But I couldn’t bring you two with me, and I would never get Harry and ‘Cissa out on my own. I thought about calling Kreacher, but I’m sure Dumbles is watching him as well. Luckily, Harry told me of another way I can get the two of you into the house, but it will have to wait a few days.”

“Why will it have to wait?” Draco demanded, narrowing his eyes at his cousin.

“Because Harry said so,” Sirius replied, “When he came to rescue me he had to go through a labyrinth and he ate the Apple of Knowledge; it showed him a few things and that is when he told me to wait two days and then give you-never mind.” Sirius clamped his mouth shut, and studiously looked away from the blond boy in front of him.

“He gave you the thread,” Sirius risked a glance at Draco and saw that his eyes were shining; Sirius quickly glanced away again, carefully avoiding looking into those eyes, as he did not want to get trapped by the vampire-and he mentally cursed Harry for not warning him about his young cousin; “Give it to me.” The command seemed to resonate in Sirius’ bones, and he actually found himself reaching for the thread before he got a hold of himself.

“I can’t,” he told Draco, “I promised Harry, and you don’t want me to break that promise, do you?” Draco paused, drawing in his power which had begun to react angrily at the thought that this man was keeping him from his mate; he was debating whether forcing Sirius to obey him would be worth Harry’s anger later. With a sigh, he decided to respect his mate’s wishes-for the time being. Sensing Draco’s capitulation, Sirius shot a grin at Severus; “I’m feeling really tired; do you have a room for me Sev?”

“Call me Sev again and I will cut off your tail-your human one,” Severus threatened, ignoring the whimper as he added, “Your room is at the top of the stairs, second on the left. I will see you in the morning and we can exchange stories at that time.”

“Okay,” Sirius agreed, turning towards the stairs. “Oh, by the way,” he called back over the shoulder, “Harry said I couldn’t give you the thread until I had been here for two days-he never said anything about you trying to find it. He also wanted me to tell you that he didn’t leave you on purpose Draco. ‘Night Cousin; ‘Night Sev!” He quickly ducked out of the room, his barking laughter echoing as he avoided the hex Severus sent after him.

“When we do locate Harry he might find that his godfather has been neutered,” Severus growled, and Draco smirked at that.

“Is Sirius a light sleeper?” Draco questioned.

“Not that I recall,” Severus replied, “Just in case, however, I will give you a sleep bomb; it is one of the Weasley terrors inventions that I confiscated after they tried to use it on me.” He and his godson shared a smirk before Severus turned to head back to the lab; “I know that the sun potion drains you after the effects wear off, but I feel today would be a good day to use it so that we can rescue your troublesome mate. Come; you should try to feed so that you can take the potion, and then after we finish cleaning up the lab you can look for that thread.”

*******

“Ah, Harry my boy,” Harry looked up with bleary eyes as he entered the kitchen at Grimmauld Place, “We missed you at dinner last night, and Molly said you didn’t touch the plate she sent up with Ginny.” Dumbledore was sitting alone at the table, drinking what Harry assumed was a cup of tea and eating from a small bag of lemon drops on the table in front of him.

“Had Dobby bring me some food,” Harry mumbled, “Not very hungry. Professor-I feel really tired lately and I don’t know why.”

“It is likely just the stress of what happened to you when you were captured,” Dumbledore replied, “Why don’t you sit down to breakfast while we have a chat? We have the house to ourselves at the moment, so we can speak freely.” Harry sat down and helped himself to some of Mrs. Weasley’s waffles which she had kept under a warming charm for him and waited for Dumbledore to get to his point. He had eaten one waffle and began eating a piece of bacon when the headmaster finally spoke again.

“Where did you go last night Harry?” he asked, and Harry wrinkled his forehead in confusion, “The wards on this house tell me whenever someone leaves, and who it is. You were gone for several hours.”

“I don’t-I don’t remember,” Harry said, “I remember talking to Dobby and then…I think I had a dream about Sirius; he was talking with the Greek gods or something…I really don’t know.” He looked up at Dumbledore worriedly, “Is it the vampires? Did they do something to me?”

“Of course not, silly,” Harry jerked his head up in surprise as Luna came skipping into the room; she sat down at the table next to him and snagged a piece of bacon off his plate before continuing, “It must have been the tea we drank last night. I made it with juice from the dirigible plum and you had far more than you should have for someone who is not used to drinking it.”

“Good morning Miss Lovegood,” Dumbledore greeted her cheerfully, “What brings you here? And how did you get here?”

“Harry and Dobby brought me,” Luna replied, “I don’t know where we are exactly, but I know the house belongs to Harry and that is the only reason I was able to enter. You have been speaking with the Rot Fang Conspiracy again; they can’t be trusted you know. If you’ll excuse me, the blibbering humdingers should be awake by now. Is there a garden I can visit for a few minutes?”

“Right through that door is the living room,” Dumbledore pointed, “And at the end of that room is a door which leads to a private garden. It is a bit chilly so don’t stay out too long.”

“The mistle fairies will protect me,” Luna replied cheerfully, “I’ll be back soon Harry; don’t go anywhere with false idols while I am gone.” With those parting words she was gone, skipping out of the room the same way in which she had entered.

“Are you all finished with breakfast?” Dumbledore asked, and he beamed when Harry nodded, “Good! Since you say you are still feeling tired most of the time I would like to run a diagnostic scan; this is a bit different from the one’s Madame Pomfrey uses and will look for hidden hexes. You will likely feel a small tingle, but it should be over with quickly. Are you ready Harry?”

“Um, sure,” Harry said uncertainly, “I guess so, Professor.” Dumbledore smiled and drew his wand as he stood up before walking around the table to where Harry was sitting. He motioned for Harry to push the chair away from the table, and as soon as he complied Dumbledore cast the diagnostic spell.

The spell caused a tingle just as Dumbledore had predicted, and Harry closed his eyes against a wave of dizziness. He had the oddest feeling of someone shifting through his mind and vaguely realized that there was an impenetrable wall protecting a set of memories; the presence in his mind gave off a feeling of frustration, and then all he could think about was Draco. A few minutes later the strange feelings disappeared and he opened his eyes to find Dumbledore gazing at him with a troubled expression.

“Well, my boy,” Dumbledore sighed heavily, “As you know, I had hoped that we would be able to destroy all of the horcruxes before you face Voldemort again.”

“Yes, we still have to get Nagini,” Harry nodded, “and also find out what object he took that belonged to Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The diary was destroyed my second year, we destroyed the cup a few months ago, and we destroyed the ring a couple of weeks ago.”

“We already destroyed the Slytherin artifact,” Dumbledore corrected, “We located the locket while you were missing and had it destroyed. After performing the scan I discovered some most troubling news; it seems that the connection between Voldemort and yourself has made it so that each time we destroy a horcrux it weakens your magic.”

“But doesn’t that mean he is weakening as well?”

“He will not weaken as rapidly as you because he is able to draw power from his followers,” Dumbledore explained, “You are weakening at such a rate that by the time we destroy the last horcrux you may well be too tired to face Voldemort. I believe we must alter our plans, as much as I hate to do so.”

“You want me to face him now,” Harry stated, “But…he won’t die, not if he still has two other horcruxes besides me.”

“I have discovered another horcrux at the school,” Dumbledore informed him, “and I have a strengthening potion brewed by Severus. I can make a portkey that will use your connection to take you to Voldemort; you will take the strengthening potion first, and then use the portkey. Voldemort will not be expecting you, so you will use that element of surprise to kill Nagini with this.” Dumbledore reached into his robes and pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor. “I will know when you have accomplished this, and I will destroy Ravenclaw’s Diadem, which is the horcrux I have recently discovered. Voldemort will feel the destruction of his second to last horcrux, but he will not be distracted for long. You must not draw your wand; instead wait for him to cast the killing curse at you, and then aim the sword through the curse. The sword will collect the power of the curse and magnify it, which will be enough to kill Voldemort when you pierce him through the heart. You may be able to survive this, but I fear that the curse will still travel through the sword and you will lose your life as well. I am sorry, my boy.” Dumbledore’s normally twinkling eyes were now full of sadness as he rested a gentle hand on Harry’s shoulder.

“I knew it would come to this eventually,” Harry said quietly as he fought back tears; sure, his destiny was unfair, but that didn’t mean he had to cry about it, “Do you-can we do it today? Only, if we wait someone will find out and they will try to stop me; I don’t want anyone else to die if we can end it today.”

“You are so brave Harry,” Dumbledore said proudly, “Never have I been prouder of any student than I am of you right now; you honor your parents’ memories. I had planned to wait a few weeks, however if you wish to go today then I have the diadem with me, and I can send Dobby for the potion. You I can arrange for you to go tonight.”

“Please do,” Harry said, “I’m-I’ll just go get rest and meet you in the library after supper?”

“I will meet you there at eleven pm,” Dumbledore said, “I will make sure no one tries to stop you.” Harry nodded as he left the room; going up the stairs all he felt was a sense of detachment-how was he supposed to feel, knowing that today was the day he was going to die?

Harry spent the entire day in bed; Molly stopped in for a few minutes to check on him, but Dumbledore told everyone he needed rest, so he didn’t see anyone else. A few minutes before eleven, Harry stood in the library with Dumbledore, his father’s cloak draped over his shoulders and the Sword of Gryffindor in his right hand. His wand was safely tucked away inside his shirt where he wouldn’t be tempted to draw it.

“Okay Harry; drink the potion,” Dumbledore handed him a vial of red potion which he drank without even tasting, and then he held out the portkey-a golden snitch. “This is the snitch you caught in your very first Quidditch game; it will activate when you speak the word “phoenix”. Do you have any messages that you wish for me to pass along?”

“No, thank you,” Harry shook his head, “I-I left a letter upstairs for my friends. I’m ready to go, before I lose my nerve.” He took the snitch and looked Dumbledore in the eye before pulling up the hood of the invisibility cloak so that he was completely covered; the cloak would hopefully allow him to kill Nagini before Voldemort saw him. “Good-bye, Professor. Phoenix.” Harry said the activation phrase without waiting for a response and the felt the familiar tug of a portkey. When he landed Harry was relieved to find that he was still covered by the cloak, and Nagini was nearby.

“There is an intruder,” Voldemort’s high, cold voice came to Harry as he got to his feet, “Nagini-find him.” Nagini hissed a reply, but before she could locate him Harry drew the sword of Gryffindor and brought it down on her neck with all his might. Voldemort screamed in anger and the small group of gathered Death Eater’s shouted in fear as they saw Nagini beheaded by an invisible force. Seconds later Voldemort screamed again, but this time in pain and Harry knew that now there was only one horcrux left; himself.

“Hello, Tom,” Harry said calmly as he drew the cloak off and folded it carefully before placing it inside his shirt along with his wand; Voldemort was seething, but the destruction of the horcrux had weakened him a little, which is why Harry had not yet been attacked. “Care to try your luck at killing me again? I’ve destroyed all of your horcruxes, so now it’s just you and me. And, I won’t even be using my wand; all I have with me is this sword.

“Foolish boy,” Voldemort hissed, “You think to stab me before I can kill you? I think not. No more playing-I don’t know how you rid yourself of my horcrux, but since you have you are of no more use to me.” Harry frowned in confusion; he wasn’t a horcrux anymore? But then why- “Avada Kadava.” Harry didn’t have any time to ponder as Voldemort said the curse that killed his parents; without thought Harry raised the sword of Gryffindor and used it to pierce the light from the killing curse. He felt the blade absorb the curse, and plunged it into Voldemort’s chest; the surprise in those chilling red eyes was satisfying, but that satisfaction was short-lived as the curse traveled back through the sword and slammed into Harry with immense force. He felt intense pain for what seemed like an eternity before the world faded into blessed darkness and he knew no more.

 


	8. In Between

“Do you think he is asleep this time?” Draco asked Severus, “I don’t want a repeat of last night.” The night before Draco had attempted to find the thread and take it from Sirius, but it seemed the other man had stolen Severus’ wand and set up traps in the guest room; Draco had not been amused to find himself hanging upside down-his ire increased when it took twenty minutes for Sirius to stop laughing and let him down.

“He is likely asleep,” Severus said, “This time I will assist you with dismantling any traps before you enter the room. Shall we go now?”

“Yes,” Draco said decisively, “I am going to find Harry tonight, and if he thinks he can stop me-” Draco stopped suddenly and swayed on his feet; his eyes glazed over then he said weakly, “What-? Harry?” Before Severus could make any sense of that, Draco collapsed on the floor.

“Sirius Black!” Severus yelled, rushing towards the guest room, “Where is that gods-cursed thread? You will give it to me so that we can locate that idiot boy now!” He slammed the door open, startling Sirius into wakefulness.

“What? Sev-?” Sirius sat up and looked around groggily, “Thread?”

“Yes, you idiot mutt,” Severus sneered, “My godson just collapsed on the floor, and it has something to do with your godson so we are going to find him right now. Get up and give me that thread or I will boil your blood.”

“Harry?” Sirius was wide awake now and immediately reached under his pillow to produce a small box, “Here it is. What happened?”

“That is what we are going to find out,” Severus said, “My house elf will take care of Draco; we are going to locate Harry and bring him here immediately.”

“Oh, you won’t be able to do that,” Severus spun around at the dreamy voice and was startled to see the Lovegood girl standing behind him in the hallway, “Only Draco can bring Harry back. You have to wait for Draco to wake up; he will find Harry and then lead you to him.”

“How did you get here Miss Lovegood?” Severus demanded, “And what do you know?”

“The blibbering humdingers told me,” Luna replied, “When Harry comes back he’ll have a gift, but it won’t make him very happy. Ariadne has a strange sense of humor. I don’t know why Harry left anyway; I told him to beware of false idols. Oh, hello again Stubby.”

“Nothing you just said makes any sense you foolish girl,” Severus snapped, “You-”

“So Dumbledore had something to do with…whatever happened?” Sirius interrupted.

“I did warn Harry,” Luna nodded, “But the cinnadoms can affect one’s rationality, and the snuffleflies have affected his memory. Draco should be waking soon; I’ll go prepare some tea…perhaps peppermint…” Luna trailed off as she wandered down the hallway towards the kitchen.

“I am going to go check on my godson,” Severus announced, “In the meantime, I suggest you get dressed and bring along that ball of thread; regardless of Mr. Potter’s previous wishes we are going to locate him tonight, with or without you.” With that said Severus left the room, robes billowing out behind him in a way that made Sirius jealous…not that he would ever admit it, of course.

******

The first thing Harry noticed was the lack of pain; he had been in agony when the curse traveled back through the sword, but now all that pain was gone. The second thing he notice was the scent of fresh cut grass, and the feel of it against his cheek. He opened his eyes and sat up, noticing as he did so that he was sitting in a beautiful meadow. The grass beneath him was a brilliant emerald green interspersed with hundreds of brightly colored flowers, and when he looked up the sky was the deepest blue he had ever seen. There was a small pond nearby with a stream leading away from it to a stand of trees, and the whole place gave him a sense of peace.

After several minutes-or possibly several hours, he couldn’t be sure of the passage of time-Harry saw some movement from the trees, and as a figure stepped into the sunlight he suddenly remembered everything that had happened in the past few weeks. The figure stepped closer and Harry recognized her.

“Ariadne?” he called, “I didn’t think I’d see you again any time soon.”

“Normally you wouldn’t have,” Ariadne laughed, as she sat down beside him in the grass, “but I spoke with cousin Hades and his wife Persephone convinced him to let me speak with you; I was going to bring Asterius and Theseus along, but they were arguing again so I left them behind. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, I guess,” Harry replied, “I remember facing Voldemort-am I dead?”

“Yes,” Ariadne replied, “And no. At this moment you are in another portion of the in-between. Do you see that stream there?” Harry nodded; “If you follow that stream it will take you to the underworld; I know that religion does not factor into wizarding life very much, but Zeus considers all magical beings to fall under the dominion of the gods and goddesses who formerly lived on Olympus, and those who do not have other religious views are judged by Hades upon their death. You, Harry, have lived a good life and gave your life to save others; you are destined for the Elysian Fields, where you will spend the after-life surrounded by your friends and loved ones.”

“Sounds great,” Harry smiled, “I’ve never really had that.”

“I know,” Ariadne reached out to brush his hair away from his face, “But I have to tell you, because of your actions you also have the choice to go back and live the rest of your life. You could get to know your godfather better, as well as Draco.”

“Draco?” Harry frowned in confusion for a second before shaking his head; he remembered that Draco marked him and claimed that they were mates, but… “I want to go on. I don’t want to go back where everything is still so hard. Is Voldemort truly dead?”

“I believe so,” Ariadne confirmed.

“Then my destiny is finished; I want to see my parents.”

“And so you shall,” Ariadne held out her hand, “I can lead you there.”

“Don’t you dare,” the new voice startled Harry, and he spun around to see Draco stomping towards him, eyes narrowed angrily, “Don’t you dare go with her Potter; you will not leave me.”

“You don’t get to make that decision Malfoy,” Harry retorted, “I did my part-don’t I deserve a chance for peace?”

“For Merlin’s sake, you are only sixteen!” Draco fumed, “Peace is for sixty-year olds, not teenagers! You still have so much life to see, don’t you want to experience it? Plus, if you don’t come back I will go mad and Severus will eventually be forced to kill me.”

“Wait-what?” Harry had been about to argue, but Draco’s last statement knocked him off balance, “What do you mean he’ll have to kill you?”

“I am a Veela,” Draco said with false patience, “You are my mate. Normally if a mate dies so will the Veela, however I am a vampire and cannot die. Instead, I will go insane as soon as I wake up and I will kill anyone I come across. My strength will weaken a little every day, but it could be centuries before I weaken enough for someone to kill me; a grieving Veela gains their mates power and that will make me stronger than the other vampires, for at least a few years. By the time someone can destroy me I would kill hundreds of people-probably thousands.”

“That’s not fair,” Harry whispered, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, “I finally have the chance to see my parents, and you’re taking it away from me. I hate you Draco.”

“Then you’ll come back with me?” Draco voice was full of relief, and the blond knelt down to take Harry’s hand in his own, “I promise I will do everything I can to make you happy-”

“And when your time comes, your parents will still be waiting,” Ariadne said, “As Draco said, you still have a lot of life left to live. Go, enjoy your life. Oh, and when my gift manifests you’ll want to go to the states; the one who can help you lives there.”

“How do I get back?” Harry asked, not processing the mention of a gift.

“Why, you simply have to wake up,” Ariadne laughed, leaning forward to kiss his cheek, before doing the same to Draco, “Take care of him, won’t you Draco? We’ll all talk again sometime. I had better go check on the boys to make sure they haven’t destroyed anything.” With a quick wave Ariadne walked back towards the trees and soon disappeared.

“Who was that?” Draco asked, “It seems like I should know her, but I don’t.”

“That was Ariadne,” Harry replied, “Her husband Theseus is my great-something grandfather, and your family is descended from Ariadne.”

“I see,” Draco looked after her thoughtfully for a moment before turning his attention to Harry, “I’m sorry if I have upset you; I know it was selfish of me, but I just couldn’t lose you.”

“To be honest, I think I was meant to go back,” Harry sighed, “It just would have been nice to see my parents. Will you be there when I get back?”

“I will be at Severus’ house,” Draco replied, “but I will come for you. If you remember, call for Misty once you awaken.”

“I will,” Harry agreed, “How do I go about waking up?”

“If this is anything like a dream then you will wake up once you fall asleep,” Draco said; he took hold of Harry’s arm and maneuvered them until Harry rested his head in Draco’s lap. “Now close your eyes and relax,” Draco instructed, carding his fingers through the thick black locks, “Imagine you are flying through the air, on your Firebolt. You aren’t playing Quidditch or chasing after the snitch, you are simply flying through the air, nothing but blue sky around you…”

Draco’s soft, cultured voice lulled Harry into a relaxed state where he could actually see what the other boys was describing; he could feel the broom beneath him and the wind in his hair-and then he felt a shooting pain throughout his body. Harry opened his eyes with a gasp and found himself lying on the ground, surrounded by Death Eaters who were shocked at the sudden demise of their lord. Harry knew it would only be a matter of seconds before the Death Eater’s turned to him, so he grabbed the snitch that he had dropped in his pocket earlier and whispered “Phoenix”. The activation code still worked, and soon Harry was lying on the floor of the study in Grimmauld Place, shocked blue eyes looking down at him.

“Harry my boy!” Dumbledore smiled, quickly hiding his surprise, “I’m so glad to see you are alive! And Voldemort?”

“Dead,” Harry said shortly, slowly climbing to his feet and ignoring Dumbledore’s offer of help.

“You have only been gone for twenty minutes,” Dumbledore informed him, “That is very impressive. Why don’t you sit down and tell me what happened while I fix us some tea?”

“Why?” Harry demanded, “So you can alter my memories again? I remember everything now, _Professor_. I know that I didn’t have a horcrux inside me anymore and you still sent me to face Voldemort; you meant for me to die.”

“Now Harry, you’re exaggerating things a bit,” Dumbledore said cheerfully, “Of course you still had the horcrux inside you; death is the only way to get rid of it. As for sending you to your death-well, you offered to go because you didn’t want anyone else to die. Where are you going?” Harry looked over his shoulder as he headed out of the study, glaring at the headmaster.

“I’m going to find Draco and Severus,” he replied, “Well, first I am going to find Narcissa, and then we are going to leave. I’m done being your pawn Dumbledore.”

“Ah, I was afraid of that,” Dumbledore said sadly, “Luckily I was prepared for such an eventuality. I’m truly sorry Harry, but you leave me no choice.” Harry saw Dumbledore reach for something in his pocket and didn't even bother trying to run; instead, he summoned help.

"Kreacher!" Harry called, the house elf appeared almost instantly and Harry continued with his command, "Take me to Narcissa Malfoy!" He heard a cry of rage-and then he was standing in front of Narcissa Malfoy, who looked startled.

“Harry dear, what is the matter?” Narcissa inquired, “Are you alright?”

“Dumbledore sent me to face Voldemort,” Harry replied, “even though he knew it would probably kill me. When I came back alive and told him I didn’t trust him he-well, I don’t know what he was going to do because I summoned Kreacher. We have to get out of here Mrs. Malfoy; it isn’t safe for either of us.”

“We don’t have to rush,” Narcissa soothed him, “We are on the restricted floor, and so Dumbledore cannot reach us. Now, is there anything in your room that you need? Kreacher can get it for you.”

“Kreacher is no helping Harry Potter,” Kreacher argued, “Kreacher is only obeying his master. Master is back and Harry Potter is not being telling Kreacher what to do. Kreacher is being waiting for Master to return.” With that said, the old house elf vanished.

“Well, I guess that means he won’t help anymore,” Harry said drily, “I’m just glad he actually came when I needed him to.”

“As am I,” Narcissa agreed, “It is likely because he knew Sirius would be angry if Kreacher allowed any harm to become you. I would suggest summoning Dobby again and having him gather your belongings.” Harry nodded his agreement, and then called out; “Dobby!” The house elf appeared moments later, and Harry spoke quickly, not giving Dobby time to speak.

“Dobby, I am in danger and I need you to help me,” Harry informed the house elf, “Will you go to my room and pack all my things for me? Let Hedwig out of her cage; she always seems to find me, so I’m not too worried about her. If you would, please bring all my stuff up here.”

“Yes sir, Harry Potter sir!” Dobby said eagerly, “Dobby is helping his Harry Potter!” Dobby bowed low and then left, and Harry turned to Narcissa; “Did you need Dobby to pack anything for you?”

“No,” Narcissa replied, “The few belongings I brought with me are already up here; I am going to pack them now, and then we need to decide where to go. Stay in here and I will be back in a few moments Harry.” Narcissa left the room and, true to her word, returned a few minutes later. Dobby returned immediately after Narcissa, wobbling on his feet.

“Dobby! What happened?” Harry demanded, steadying the little house elf.

“Dumbleydors is trying to stop Dobby,” Dobby replied, “He is putting blocks so house elves is not being able to come or leave this house. He is trapping Harry Potter sir.”

“Well, then I guess we have to wait for Draco to find us,” Harry sighed, “You just rest Dobby; we’ll be fine.” He got Dobby to sit in one of the chairs and then turned t Narcissa; “Have you heard from Draco or Severus?”

“I have not,” Narcissa replied, “Tell me Harry; do you remember everything now?”

“I do,” Harry nodded, adding wryly, “It seems there’s nothing like dying to bring your memories back. Would you like me to tell you what happened when Draco and I were captured?”

“Please,” Narcissa said, “Here is a healing potion; you don’t look very well, and I noticed you are having trouble using moving your hands.” Harry looked down at his hands and winced; they were an angry red and covered in blisters-he was surprised he hadn’t notice before. Of course, as soon as he saw his hands, they began to hurt, and he eagerly downed the potion Narcissa gave him. After a few moments his hands began to tingle, and soon the blisters had gone, along with the pain.

“Thank you,” Harry said gratefully, “I hadn’t even noticed they were hurting.”

“You are quite welcome,” Narcissa replied, “Why don’t you sit down and I will make us some tea while you tell me what happened and what you remember.” Narcissa conjured some tea and they sat down across from each other; once Harry had added the proper amount of cream and sugar he began to fill Narcissa in on what had happened from the moment he and Draco were captured.

***********************************************************************************

Draco opened his eyes and found that he was still lying on the floor; he heard a soft humming from the kitchen, and Misty was staring down at him anxiously.

“Oh Master Draco is being awake!” Misty exclaimed, “Is Master Draco hurting? What can Misty be doing?”

“Find Severus and tell him we are going after Harry,” Draco commanded as he got to his feet, “Sirius Black will give me that ball of thread or this time his death will be permanent.”

“No need to make threats!” Sirius protested as he entered the room, carefully staying behind Severus, “The only reason I didn’t give it to you before is because Harry told me not to, but Sev told me Harry is in danger, so of course I will help you find him.” Severus remained quiet throughout this exchange, carefully examining his godson and noting that he seemed to be in better health than he had been in several days.

“Call me Sev again and you will regret it, you insolent mutt,” Severus threatened, “What happened Draco?”

“I felt Harry die,” Draco replied, “One second I could feel a faint link to him, and the next it was gone, taking my strength with it.”

“Wait-Harry is dead?” Sirius demanded, “But-”

“He was dead,” Draco corrected, “When I lost consciousness I floated around in darkness for some time, and then I found myself walking through a seemingly endless field. Eventually I came upon Harry and a lady he referred to as Ariadne; Ariadne was about to lead Harry through to the afterlife, but I reached them just in time and convinced him to live. He fell asleep and his body disappeared and then I found myself here; I believe Harry returned to the place of his momentary death, which means we must go after him.”

“Oh, he won’t be there any longer,” Luna said cheerfully as she entered the dining room, carrying a tray of tea, “Have some tea before we go. The false idol never expected Harry to return but Harry was able to get away and he and Narcissa are waiting in a place where the false idol can never reach him. I can’t wait until it’s time to reveal Harry’s new gift…oh, won’t Dumbledore be surprised!” Luna collapsed into a fit of giggles, her body shaking as tears ran down her face; when she stopped laughing several minutes later (Severus, Sirius and Draco had been too startled to do anything to stop her) Luna straightened up and looked at them all solemnly; “Remember this is what happens when you set yourself up as a false idol. Stubby, would you sing for us before we go? I know you haven’t done a concert in years, but it would be a great morale booster; I’d like to hear the song about the purple people eater. Where do they come from do you suppose?”

“As interesting as all this is not,” Draco said drily, “I believe it can wait until after we locate my mother and my mate. Now, can you tell me where they are Luna?”

“You should try the days of auld Lang sine,” Luna replied, “It’s a dreary sort of place, but it was originally built to mimic Atlantis. Such a lovely place. Does no one want any tea? Well, we should go then. I propose we follow Stubby, as the house belongs to him and he has the golden thread.”

“My name is not Stubby,” Sirius sighed, “It is Sirius Black and-you know what? We can talk about it later. Severus-shouldn’t you be able to see the place? You’ve been there before.”

“Dumbledore changed the security,” Severus replied, “And I can no longer remember the name of the location, so we shall have to follow you. Miss Lovegood should stay here.”

“No thank you,” Luna said, “Shall we apparate to Grimmauld Place before we activate the thread?”

“She knows far too much,” Draco frowned, “Yet-I trust her. Very well Lovegood; if you know how to get there perhaps you can give me the coordinates and I can take you side-along.”

“Silly,” Luna giggled, “Vampires can’t apparate! Don’t worry though; you can come with me.” She stepped forward and grabbed Draco’s arm, then waved at Sirius and Severus, “See you at Grimmauld Place!” Draco found himself allowing Luna to lead him, and soon he felt the disorientation of side-along apparition; moments later he was standing in a dismal-looking square with Luna, who had wandered off to sing to the trees. It was only a few minutes later when Severus and Sirius appeared, and Sirius immediately pulled out the golden thread.

“Everyone hold on to a piece of the thread,” Sirius instructed, “That’s the only way we’ll be able to get into the house. Should we focus on Harry or-”

“We should be careful not to incur the wrath of false idols,” Luna interrupted, “He is not here at the moment, but his acolytes and those who worship him remain. Harry and Narcissa are in a place only accessible by those who are always pure.”   

“The family suite,” Sirius nodded, “Okay; everyone hold onto the thread,” this time they all did as he said, and he commanded, “Ariadne’s thread, show us the way to Harry Potter and Narcissa Malfoy.” He dropped the ball of thread at his feet, and it rolled across the ground in front of them, up some steps, and stopped at what appeared to be a blank wall, but after a few minutes a door appeared and they wasted no time in entering it.

The group was quiet as they walked stepped into the dimly lit entryway, and moments later they found themselves face-to-face with Molly Weasley.

“Sirius?” Molly gasped, “And Severus and-Draco? Oh, thank Merlin! We all thought you were dead!” She rushed forward to hug each of the men in front of her, ignoring the Slytherin’s discomfort, “Sirius! However are you alive? Harry will be-would be-Oh, Sirius! I’m so sorry!” Molly began sobbing into Sirius’ chest, “If only-you came back and now Harry-he-he-he’s gone Sirius! Dumbledore said Harry must have taken off to challenge V-Voldemort, and he succeeded because Voldemort is dead, but so is Harry! Why did this happen?”

“Calm down Molly,” Sirius said, “I can assure you Harry is still alive; it was part of the ceremony that made me his godfather-if Harry was truly dead I would know it. He’s just missing, and we will find him.” Sirius’ words had the Weasley matriarch looking up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes.

“He’s alive?” Molly asked hopefully, “But Dumbledore said-”

“Dumbledore may be right,” Severus said, giving Sirius a sharp look, “But Sirius believes his godson to be alive and so I have offered to help him look for Harry; since he is not here we shall have to look elsewhere, but first Draco would like to find his mother.”

“Fat chance of that happening,” Ron walked down the stairs, his voice full of scorn, “Draco’s mother went insane and blamed Dumbledore for Draco’s death; she tried to hex Dumbledore and then ran off into the house. We haven’t found her yet, but Dumbledore said she tried to use the Killing Curse, so once we find her she’ll spend the rest of her life in Azkaban with you scummy Death Eater of a father.”

“There’s only one thing wrong with that, Weasel,” Draco sneered, “If Mother had sent the Killing Curse at Dumbledore she wouldn’t have missed. By the way, where were you when Potter went off after Voldemort? I thought for sure you would have gone with him, seeing as how you are always standing in his shadow hoping some of his glory will reflect off on you.”

“He didn’t even tell me he was going,” Ron fumed, “He always told me everything until he started talking to you; it’s your fault he’s dead Malfoy, and I hope you rot in Azkaban!”

“That is enough,” Molly said firmly, “Ronald-you go on up to your room this instant. No arguments!” Everyone was quiet as Ron stomped angrily away, and then Molly rounded on Severus; “How did you get back in here Severus? Dumbledore changed the wards because he was worried the vampires would have…I’m not sure exactly what they do, be he thought they might turn you against us. And Draco has never been told the secret, so he should not have been able to find this place; what type of dark magic are you using? Is it something Sirius discovered while he was dead? I’m calling for Dumbledore; he really should speak to you before you go any further. Kreacher!”

“Stupefy,” Sirius said, rushing to catch Molly as she fell, “Sorry about that Molly, but I can’t have you warning Dumbledore. Ah, Kreacher! Are you happy to see your old master?”

“Master is alive!” Kreacher wailed, throwing himself at Sirius’ feet, “The mudblood lover said Master Sirius was dead; no more Blacks! Master Sirius is back, and he is being a good master now? He is not breaking Mistresses heart? Kreacher sees Master is being with the half-blood, but handsome Master Draco is being here too!”

“I am alive and well, Kreacher,” Sirius said, kicking the house elf away with an expression of disgust, “We need to get to Narcissa, and I need to make sure that Severus and Luna can-wait; has anyone see Luna lately?”

“She was just here when we entered the house,” Draco frowned, “Yet I can’t sense her. I was not able to sense her earlier tonight either, now that I think about it…”

“I suppose one of us should search for Luna while the other two go find Narcissa and Harry,” Sirius sighed, “Since I know the house best…Kreacher? You have something to say?” Sirius noticed Kreacher wringing his ears in agitation, but when he was acknowledged he looked up at Sirius with grateful eyes.

“Master is so kind to notice Kreacher!” he said, “Such a good master! The Luna Lady is being safe; she is saying she will being back before master is leaving and master is not to be worrying.”

“Then we should move on,” Severus said, eyeing Draco carefully as the blond slowly moved into the hallway and towards the staircase, “for I believe Draco has sensed Potter.” Sirius looked at his young cousin and saw that his eyes were narrowed in concentration as he made his way through the darkened house; he and Severus followed the young vampire up to the secret floor only accessible by those with Black ancestry-Sirius, as Head of Family, was able to get Severus through the wards-and to a small sitting room where they found Harry and Narcissa talking quietly to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but there's only so many times you can rework a chapter before everything becomes a blur. Hopefully you all enjoy it; I'm working on bringing the first part of the story to a close so that I can bring in the Anita Blake characters. There will probably be only another 3-4 chapters before that happens. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!


	9. Reunited

“Harry,” Draco’s voice was soft, but Harry heard it anyway, and he looked up to see the blond staring at him with eyes gone nearly silver. Harry carefully set his teacup down and got to his feet, slowly crossing the distance between himself and Draco.

“Hullo, Draco,” Harry said nervously, stopping a few feet away from the vampire, “I’m…I’m glad to see you’re okay. How are you feeling?”

“Better,” Draco replied, his voice still soft; then he added; “Hungry.” Harry’s green eyes went wide and he backed up a step, but Draco quickly reached out and snagged his wrist, preventing him from escaping. “You would deny me?” Draco growled lowly, then noticed how Harry was avoiding his eyes; he quickly sought to reassure the brunet; “You are my mate; your blood is my life…I will not hurt you.”

“I-I know that,” Harry said, meeting Draco’s gaze, “I mean, I kind of know that. It’s just-the way you said it was…it made me feel a little nervous. Didn’t you…feed…before you came here?”

“He has had very little blood in the last two weeks,” Severus interjected, “It seems that the combination of Veela and vampire traits means that he cannot drink from anyone other than his mate. I created a potion that allows him to take some of my blood, but it is barely enough to keep him alive. Draco needs your blood to get well again.”

“Right,” Harry said, nodding his head resolutely, even though he was still a mass of nerves inside, “Can-will you be able to take just a little bit now, and then I can give you more after we get out of here?”

“It will be hard to stop,” Draco admitted, “I have not had your blood, or even your presence in two weeks.”

“Why not have Harry put his blood in a vial?” Sirius suggested, “That way the temptation won’t be as strong.” Draco growled at Sirius in response, and the animagus held his hands up defensively; “Okay-no need to go all feral; it was just a suggestion.”

“We are safe here for the night,” Narcissa spoke up for the first time since her son had entered the room, “There are three bedrooms on this floor; do you think you and Sirius can sleep in the same room for one night, Severus? The protections on this floor will not allow you to be in a room by yourself.”

“If he irritates me I will use him for potions ingredients,” Severus deadpanned.

“Since Sirius is Head of the Family, the two of you should take the master suite,” Narcissa decided to take that as an agreement, “Do you remember where it is Cousin?”

“Yes, Cissy,” Sirius replied, “I promise I will be good tonight; or, I guess I should say today-it is early in the morning. Come on Sev; the room is this way. Ow!” Sirius covered his bum, pouting at Severus who had cast a well-aimed stinging hex.

“Insolent Mutt,” Severus scowled, “Lead on.”

Once the two men had left, Narcissa turned to her son and Draco, “Draco, there is a room to the left of this one that you and Harry can have for the night.”

“Thank you, Mother,” Draco replied, not taking his eyes off of Harry, “I-I know you were worried; we can talk tomorrow?”

“That is acceptable,” Narcissa smiled, “Goodnight, my son. Good night, Harry.”

“Good night, Cissa,” Harry replied; he turned his head to look at Narcissa, but Draco’s soft growl drew his attention back to the boy-or rather vampire-in front of him. “Stop that,” Harry scowled, “I was just telling your mum goodnight. You’d better not act like this all the time.”

“It’s not my fault,” Draco countered, “Severus already told you I have barely fed in two weeks; on top of that, Veela are usually not apart from their mates for more than a day once they have found them-at least, not until after the bonding is complete.”

“So the possessiveness is just because of the, er, extreme circumstances?” Harry asked.

“Yes,” Draco confirmed, “At least, the heightened possessiveness is because of our separation; I do not think that it will ever go away completely, although it should get better over time. Now, are there any further questions, or will you allow me to feed now?”

“Um, right,” Harry raked his free hand-Draco still had a tight grip on his other wrist-through his hair, “Can we…I mean, Dobby is in here and…” Draco briefly looked behind Harry where he saw his father’s former house elf watching the two of them with wide eyes.

“Ah, shy, Potter?” Draco teased, “I think I can hold out until we reach the bedroom.” Draco led Harry out of the sitting room and into the bedroom next door. “Do you mind if I take from your neck instead of your wrist?”

“I-I guess not,” Harry said, “How do we do this?”

“Well, first you should try to relax,” Draco said, reaching out to lay one hand against Harry’s cheek while he wrapped his other arm around the brunet’s waist, “I will not hurt you, if you are able to relax and trust me-and don’t fight my mind. I’ll explain more later, but I found out that, in addition to my Veela allure, I have the ability to roll minds; this means that I can make the bite pleasurable for you. From what I understand, however, you may be able to fight it since you are immune to the imperius curse.”

“I don’t like people messing with my mind,” Harry frowned, “Did you roll my mind last time too? I don’t remember it hurting except for a little sting when you first bit me.”

“I probably did,” Draco admitted, “As you know, I did not have control of my powers at that time. Will you allow me to make the bite pleasurable for you?” Harry bit his lip uncertainly as he considered, then gave a brief nod.

“As long as that’s all you do,” he said.

“I will not intentionally use my power for anything else,” Draco said, “However I am still getting used to it, and I cannot say that I will not accidentally do more.”

“I understand,” Harry said, “but even so; if you use your power for more than making the bite feel good, then I reserve the right to hex you.” Draco frowned at that but nodded his agreement.

“While I do not feel that is fair, I suppose I will agree to your terms,” Draco conceded, “but that means if you ever unintentionally do something I ask you not to then I can still hold you accountable for it. Now, perhaps it would be better if we were sitting.”

Draco gestured at the large four poster bed, and then released his hold on the brunet so that Harry could cross the room and sit on the edge of the bed. Draco sat next to him on the bed and pulled Harry closer, placing a gentle kiss over the pulse point in his neck; he felt Harry tense, but he didn’t bite-not yet. Instead, Draco kissed his way up Harry’s neck and across his jaw before capturing the brunet’s lips with his own. Harry was startled by the kiss, but he quickly gave into it, relishing the feel of Draco’s lips against his own; Draco’s skin was cold, but having the blond’s arms wrapped around him made Harry feel secure. When Draco’s tongue swept across his bottom lip, Harry eagerly opened his mouth, granting entry; Draco briefly stroked Harry’s tongue with his own, twining around it and pulling a moan from the other boy before retreating and simply brushing their lips together.

After a few minutes Draco broke the kiss and trailed his lips back down to Harry’s neck, once more kissing over the pulse point. He slowly pierced the skin with his fangs, reveling in Harry’s shiver. The taste of Harry’s blood was sweet and heady like a really good dessert wine, and he couldn’t help but draw Harry closer, pulling him to straddle his lap. For his part, Harry didn’t struggle or protest; the feel of those fangs piercing his skin had made him feel boneless again, and he lay compliantly in the vampire’s arms as feelings of pleasure swept through his body.

Several minutes later Draco pulled away, and Harry leaned into the blond, snuggling up against his chest as he waited for the pleasure to fade. Draco didn’t have any objections; he reveled in the trust Harry had shown him, and the brunet’s willingness to let Draco hold him went a long way towards soothing the pain of their forced separation. Harry began to stir after a few minutes, but he didn’t make any move to get away.

“I feel better now than I have in a long time,” Harry said, lifting his head so that he could look at Draco, “I didn’t realize that I would suffer from being away from you also; I kind of thought that the bond was only one way with a Veela and their mate.”

“And what sense would that make?” Draco asked lightly, “If the bond only worked one way then it would be much more likely that the mate would refuse their Veela; even someone who is in love might shy away from such an intense relationship and so the bond exists. At least, that is what I have always been told. Also, we have no idea how the vampire marks are affecting us.” Harry ‘hmm’d’ in agreement, and they sat there in silence for a while, until Draco began to feel the weakness he had associated with the coming of dawn. “We should rest,” Draco said, and he allowed Harry to pull away.

“Where will you sleep?” Harry asked, looking around the room, “I mean, you didn’t bring your…your coffin, did you?”

“I did not,” Draco said, “I haven’t been using it anyway. All I require is a dark room where the sun cannot reach me.” He looked around and noticed that the room they were in had heavy drapes that would block out the sun, and the bed itself had hangings which would further protect him. “I can lie in the bed; once the sun rises, I will not move again until nightfall.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, “I guess…the bed should be big enough for both of us. I’m going to change for bed.” Harry walked across the room to where his trunk was sitting and pulled out a t-shirt and pair of boxers to sleep in, then went into the en-suite bathroom to change. Once he was changed, he walked around to the side of the bed closest to the windows-as Draco was already lying down on the other side of the bed-and climbed beneath the covers, staying close to the edge of the bed.

“I’m not going to molest you in your sleep,” Draco said, “You’re likely to fall off the bed if you sleep there.” Harry glared at the blond, but reluctantly moved towards the middle of the bed, careful to make sure there was still some distance between himself and Draco. “If you decide to get up before I am awake, make sure I am covered with the blanket in case some sunlight gets through the curtains,” Draco said as he knelt up, reaching across Harry to pull the bed hangings closed.

“I will,” Harry promised, watching as Draco lay back down, “Good night, Draco.”

“Good night,” Draco replied, and Harry turned on his side facing the curtains as he waited for sleep to take him.

*********************

Harry didn’t remember falling asleep, but when he woke it was to find himself lying in a bed, wrapped in Draco’s arms with the blond nuzzling his neck.

“Mmm, Draco?” he questioned sleepily, “What are you-oh!” Harry’s question was answered when Draco pushed him onto his back and then sank fangs into the side of his neck; Harry briefly thought about protesting, but the thought was washed away by a wave of pleasure. Harry’s vision blurred and he found himself clutching tightly to the front of Draco’s shirt.

Before when Draco had fed it had been pleasurable in a way that made Harry relax in the blond’s arms and bask as if in sunlight; this time, however, the pleasure took on a more physical form and Harry gasped as all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his cock. Within moments he was arching up into Draco, moaning when his erection pressed into a strong thigh. Draco responded by dropping his pelvis so that he could frot against the other boy, causing Harry to cry out in pleasure, and Draco froze.

“No, please,” Harry whimpered, when Draco pulled away from his neck and his body, “Don’t go!” Harry grabbed at the blond, but Draco was quicker and he moved out of reach.

“Oh, Merlin Harry!” Draco sounded distraught and Harry wondered why, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to!”

“Draco,” Harry reached towards the blond, his body aching for release, “Please! Merlin, I need you!”

“No,” Draco said firmly, “I didn’t mean to…but I won’t take advantage of you. I-I’m going to locate Mother, and give you time to-I’ll be in the study.” Harry writhed on the bed, his body crying out for Draco; the lust-induced haze lasted for several minutes, his body too worked up for him to even think about finishing himself off, then suddenly the desire started to fade, and Harry could think again.

Draco had-what had they called it? Mind-rolled him. Draco had drank from him without permission, and used his powers on Harry to make him feel lust, then he had left him still wanting! Harry gingerly touched the wounds on his neck and scowled; he wasn’t sure what he was more angry about-Draco using his powers to roll him, or Draco leaving him in need. As he climbed out of bed, Harry recalled Draco’s words just before the blond left; Draco had sounded upset, and he had apologized. Perhaps, Harry thought as he changed his clothes, he should give Draco a chance to explain before yelling at the blond; he could always yell afterwards, if he didn’t like the explanation.

Mind made up, Harry left the bedroom and was surprised to run into Luna in the hallway.

“Luna? What are you doing here?”

“Hmm? Oh, hello Harry,” Luna said dreamily, “I need to borrow some of your blood. Oh, but then I guess you already knew that.” Before Harry could react, Luna took a handkerchief and touched to the wounds on Harry’s neck which hadn’t quite stopped bleeding yet. “Thank you.” Luna skipped off down the hallway, leaving Harry staring after her like an idiot for several minutes before he remembered his mission to talk to Draco.

Entering the study, he found Draco sitting in the far corner talking quietly with Narcissa, while Severus was making notes on some parchment and Sirius was napping in one of the chairs. Harry nodded at Severus and made his way over to Draco, feeling oddly guilty when the vampire broke off his conversation with Narcissa to look at him with worried grey eyes.

“Harry…are you alright?” Draco asked, hands tight on the arms of the chair as if he was about to jump up-or as if he was preventing himself from doing so.

“I’m okay,” Harry replied, “I-we should talk, but…it can wait until you’ve finished catching up with your mum.”

“That’s alright, Harry dear,” Narcissa said kindly as she stood up, “Draco already explained some of what happened, and you do really need to talk. We will be leaving as soon as we come up with a safe way to do so.” She leaned over to kiss Draco on the cheek, then copied the action with Harry as she walked by him. Harry smiled at her, and then took her vacated seat.

“What was that earlier?” Harry demanded as soon as they were in relative privacy; “Oh, thanks, Dobby.” He smiled at the house elf, who had brought him some tea and breakfast.

“I took Severus’ sun repellant potion yesterday,” Draco replied, “and it always makes me weaker the next day; it’s a side effect he has not found a way around yet. When I awoke at sundown, all I could smell, all I could _sense_ was you. Before I could think about it, I found myself on top of you, drinking your blood…as soon as I realized that I had been using my power on you I stopped. I’m sorry Harry; Severus has theorized that until the bond settles more, for at least the next few weeks, I will have trouble controlling my powers…and possibly my thirst.”

Harry was quiet for a moment as he considered Draco’s explanation; he could see that Draco looked a little worse for the wear-even after drinking from him twice the blond still had slight dark circles under his eyes-and he knew that newly risen vampires had trouble controlling themselves. And, Draco did stop, even when Harry was begging him not to. The blond could have kept going even once he regained control of his senses and no one would have blamed him; well, Harry himself probably would have, but no one else would have seen anything wrong with it.

“I forgive you,” Harry finally said, “How-how can we make it so that you don’t lose control like that again?”

“By spending time together when we are awake,” Draco replied, “The more time we spend together and the more we get to know one another, the more settled the bond will be and the easier it will be for me to control my powers. Physical touch, such as holding hands, will also help.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed, the frowned; “We don’t have to-to rush into…you know, having-?”

“No,” Draco reassured him with a slight smirk, “We don’t have to rush into sex; sex would help the bond settle, but it can cause other problems if we don’t trust each other first.”

“I trust you, Draco,” Harry said quietly, averting his gaze as he felt his face flush with embarrassment, “I’m not ready to have sex, but I do trust you.”

“That’s good to hear,” Draco replied, “Come on; let’s go join Mother and Severus, and you can eat your breakfast.” Harry accepted Draco’s outstretched hand and followed the blond vampire over to the small table where Narcissa and Severus were discussing plans for their relocation to Prince Manor.

************

A couple hours later Sirius, who had woken up quite suddenly and with a shout that surprised them all, had come up with a way for them to get out of Grimmauld Place without alerting the Order. They were in the middle of getting Narcissa and Harry’s belongings together, when Draco heard several sets of footsteps in the hall. He recognized Luna’s scent, but the others were unfamiliar.

“Intruders,” he announced quietly, “Harry, draw your wand and stay behind me; spells can’t hurt me as much as you.” Harry rolled his eyes at the command, and moved to stand at Draco’s shoulder.

“I’m not just going to hide behind you,” he murmured to the blond. Before Draco could reply, the door to the study opened and Luna entered, closely followed by Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson and Neville Longbottom.

“Lovegood; explain,” Severus demanded.

“Well, the mistle fairies were found dancing in the plinking tipcups garden, which ruined the driggle berry crop they were planning to harvest for the winter,” Luna began solemnly, “Of course, the mistle fairies claimed that their mintcap wine had been spiked by the yogur grumples, but the grumples said it was actually the _grimples_ who spiked the wine. When I spoke to the grimples they blamed it all on the withering crimplumpers, naturally, and that’s when I finally started to see a pattern; do you know it was actually the plinking tipcups who started it all in an effort to frame the mistle fairies because they were unhappy with the cost of mintcap wine?”

By the time Luna was done with her explanation, Severus was speechless in confusion, Narcissa was giggling, Neville, Blaise and Pansy were steadfastly looking at the wall, Draco was staring at Luna with amusement, and Harry had pressed his face against Draco’s back to muffle his laughter. Sirius, was rolling on the floor with laughter. Narcissa was the first to regain control.

“Luna, dear,” she said, “I believe Severus was asking why you brought your friends along.”

“Oh, I thought it was obvious,” Luna replied, “I brought them because they’ll never find Prince Manor on their own.”

“I was not aware that they would be joining us,” Severus said, glaring at Luna and the three students she had brought with her.

“Luna came just as my father was going to Imperio me to marry some disgusting old man,” Pansy said, “She grabbed my hand and just suddenly apparated me to Blaise’s house-”

“Where my wonderful new stepfather was in the process of ‘showing me exactly who’s the boss’,” Blaise picked up the story, “He didn’t even have a chance to cast a hex before Luna had grabbed me as well, and we ended up-”

“At my house,” Neville said quietly, “Gran told me that Dumbledore was trying to get her custody revoked, and she was suspicious about Harry’s supposed death. She wanted to get me someplace safe, and then Luna showed up. She told us all that you were alive, and that we needed to join you.”

“Then she gave us each a piece of cloth with some blood on it,” Pansy made a face as she relayed this part, “saying that it was our key to safety. She apparated us to a square in London and then used a ball of golden thread to lead us into the house and up here…and that’s it.”

“We are not staying in England,” Draco informed them, “We are waiting to hear back from one of Severus’ contacts, and then we will be leaving the country. If you come with us, we cannot say when we will return or how safe it will be.”

“I’m with Harry,” Neville said at once, “Doesn’t matter where we go.”

“And we, of course are with Draco,” Pansy added, “Although…I didn’t get a chance to gather my belongings. Can we go shopping?”

“Not until we leave the country,” Severus sighed, resigned to having the additional teenagers with them, “I’m certain Harry and Draco have some clothing the boys can borrow-”

“And I can find something for you to wear until we go shopping,” Narcissa smiled at the brunet Slytherin girl, “Right now, however, we should be going. Sirius; are you quite done now?” Everyone turned to look at Sirius, who was still sitting on the floor, although he had stopped laughing.

“Sure,” he replied, jumping to his feet; “Follow me.” Sirius led everyone down the hall to what looked like a closet; upon filing inside they found that it was actually a small stone room.

“Of course,” Narcissa shook her head, “The emergency apparition point.”

“The Head of House can enter this room and allow people to apparate through the wards,” Sirius explained, “Any wards on the rest of the house will not affect anyone either coming or going from this point. Snape, if you call your house elf she can, with your permission, tell everyone the secret and then we can apparate.”

“Very well,” Severus agreed, “Misty!” A moment later the house elf appeared, bowing low to her master.

“What can Misty be doing for Master?” she asked.

“You will tell everyone in this room the Secret,” Severus instructed her, “and then return to the Manor and prepare rooms for the guests.”

“Yes, Master,” Misty agreed, “Prince Manor is being located….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starting to move along now. There will be two...maybe three more chapters before the group leaves, and the next chapter will hold a little surprise...Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


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